Spooktober Recommends: Murder

Hey guuyyys! 

So it's very nearly Halloween which means this is pretty much the last recommends post, I've got one left but it's different to these ones! I should also remind you guys that my giveaway ends tomorrow, so head to my Twitter and check out the pinned tweet before it's too late! 

SO. Today's recommends post. Murder....*evil laughter* 

Can't have Halloween without some blood and guts and murder! 

1. Nevernight

Destined to destroy empires, Mia Covere is only ten years old when she is given her first lesson in death.

Six years later, the child raised in shadows takes her first steps towards keeping the promise she made on the day that she lost everything.

But the chance to strike against such powerful enemies will be fleeting, so if she is to have her revenge, Mia must become a weapon without equal. She must prove herself against the deadliest of friends and enemies, and survive the tutelage of murderers, liars and demons at the heart of a murder cult.

The Red Church is no Hogwarts, but Mia is no ordinary student.

The shadows love her. And they drink her fear.

Okay so I had to include this because it's a completely brilliant, blood soaked read and I just feel like it's a great Halloween read because of all the blood and gore and murder and the atmosphere. Plus I really love this book and everyone needs to read it like NOW. 


2. The Diviners

Evie O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City--and she is pos-i-toot-ly thrilled. New York is the city of speakeasies, shopping, and movie palaces! Soon enough, Evie is running with glamorous Ziegfield girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult--also known as "The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies."

When a rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in the thick of the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a mysterious power that could help catch the killer--if he doesn't catch her first. 

Yet another of my favourite reads! This is perfect for Halloween, it's so creepy and like...I read it in one go because I kept reading and then it hit four am and I was like...well...I'm too freaked out to sleep so I'll just finish it off...and there we go! Genuinely such a good read you guys! 


3. Made For You

Eva Tilling wakes up in the hospital to discover an attempt has been made on her life. But who in her sleepy town could have hit her with their car? And why? Before she can consider the question, she finds that she's awoken with a strange new skill: the ability to foresee people's deaths when they touch her.

While she is recovering from the hit-and-run, Nate, an old friend, reappears, and the two must traverse their rocky past as they figure out how to use Eva's power to keep her friends - and themselves – alive. But the killer is obsessed and will stop at nothing to get to Eva…

This is the first book I read by Melissa Marr, and so far the only one, some of her others are on my list I just haven't gotten around to it yet! I loved this, it was so well done and really kept me guessing until the end! 



4. The Naturals

Cassie Hobbes is not like most teenagers. Most teenagers don’t lose their mother in a bloody, unsolved kidnapping. Most teenagers can’t tell who you are, where you’re from and how you’re likely to behave within moments of meeting you. And most teenagers don’t get chosen to join The Naturals.

Identified by the FBI as uniquely gifted, Cassie is recruited to an elite school where a small number of teens are trained to hone their exceptional abilites.

For Cassie, trying to make friends with the girls, and to figure out the two very different, very hot boys, is challenging enough. But when a serial killer begins recreating the details of her mother’s horrific crime scene, she realises just how dangerous life in The Naturals could be...

If you love Criminal Minds you're going to love this, it's like a YA version of Criminal Minds and it's so good! I breezed through this in one go, and the sequel, I've been waiting ages for the paperback of the third one to come out for ageeesssss now! 


5. Jackaby

Newly arrived in New Fiddleham, New England, 1892, and in need of a job, Abigail Rook meets R. F. Jackaby, an investigator of the unexplained with a keen eye for the extraordinary--including the ability to see supernatural beings. Abigail has a gift for noticing ordinary but important details, which makes her perfect for the position of Jackaby’s assistant. On her first day, Abigail finds herself in the midst of a thrilling case: A serial killer is on the loose. The police are convinced it’s an ordinary villain, but Jackaby is certain it’s a nonhuman creature, whose existence the police--with the exception of a handsome young detective named Charlie Cane--deny.

I'm about to start this one very soon, and I've heard nothing but good things about it! I do love a historical read, especially when it sounds as fun as this one does! And ya know....murder with a supernatural twist! 




6. Stalking Jack The Ripper

Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord's daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.

Against her stern father's wishes and society's expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle's laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world. 

This book was SO DAMN GOOD you guys! It was really, really creepy yet I found myself reading it at night mostly like an idiot! I loved the writing, I loved the plot and the research that went in to it and I loved Audrey Rose, she was a brilliant main character and her romance with Thomas was freaking adorable! 

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Made For You

Made For You
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!

Eva Tilling wakes up in the hospital to discover an attempt has been made on her life. But who in her sleepy town could have hit her with their car? And why? Before she can consider the question, she finds that she's awoken with a strange new skill: the ability to foresee people's deaths when they touch her.

While she is recovering from the hit-and-run, Nate, an old friend, reappears, and the two must traverse their rocky past as they figure out how to use Eva's power to keep her friends - and themselves – alive. But the killer is obsessed and will stop at nothing to get to Eva…

So, GoodReads synopsis instead of my own because there is no way in hell I can do my own synopsis without rambling on and giving something away that I shouldn't, and that would be disastrous with this book! The second thing I need to do in this review, is thank the publisher profusely for sending me this! It's been on my TBR list for AGES, and it was SUCH a good book and I'm just like....I could hug the publishers right now. Like seriously. Hug them to death.

This book draws you in and is very compellingly written right from the start, I was glued to the book the entire time and read it in mere hours, it was too intriguing to put down, I had to know what happened next, and I had to know who the killer was and who was going to die next, and I was trying to juggle eating dinner while reading, which was interesting.

The book has you on the edge of your seat the entire time, and the tension oozes off of the page and engulfs you as you read. The setting was vivid and sucks you in, you can get a feel for the place and the customs as you read, and it was quite fascinating to me to be honest.

Every single one of the characters was intriguing and interesting and well written with plenty of depth. A lot of them you where wondering about, wondering about their background and past, and it was revealed seamlessly with the narrative, and the characters kept you as interested in the story as the plot. I loved Eva, I thought she was such a strong character, and Grace just made me laugh, she really doesn't care! I liked Nate as well, and the thing with he and Eva was cute, and developed quite naturally, with very natural obstacles rather than drama for the sake of drama.

Eva doesn't remember anything about her accident, so you're in the dark along with her, at times, at least for me, pieces fell in to place for me at the same time as they did for her. At other times, while Eva is still in the dark, we get little clues from the worlds creepiest and ickiest point of view ever. Seriously, it made my skin crawl.

We have Eva's point of view mostly, and a few chapters from Grace's point of view, which always fit in at the right moment to further the story, and to add to it, and just made sense. Each change was seamless and you could tell it was a different character by the writing without having to be told it was a different point of view.

Then we had the third point of view. It was so, SO creepy. It was the killer's point of view and it was so well done, and so fantastically horrifying. Like I said, it made my skin crawl and I shuddered more than once. The killer's point of view is always timed well, it always fits in at the right moment, and it was very well done because it added to the story without giving too much away. It gave you little clues, and helped you to understand what was going on, you where in the killer's head, learning his motivation and why he was doing it, but it gave nothing away about who the killer was until after the reveal. THEN it was even more of an "oh shit" moment. So, so well done. It really added to the story because it helped you try to workout who it was, and instead of being all like "wtf why is he after her though? Why is he doing that? What?" the entire way through, you understand why and it makes the entire story even creepier.

The plot was very well done, there's lots of different threads, lots of different information revealed to you at different times that makes you change your mind about your own suspect and it kept you guessing. I had an inkling of who it was early on, not long after we first met the character I thought it was him, for no particular reason than a semi educated guess with what little we had to go on, and I thought he was creepy anyway. But that was okay, it didn't make the book any less shocking or surprising and didn't stop the book from keeping me guessing.

Why? Because the author knows what she's doing, and she writes so that you keep having your mind changed. Little things, little comments, little notes about characters, how surprisingly strong one is, for example, little things like that kept making me change my mind, so I thought "shit no...it's not X character, it's Y character" and then I'd change my mind again, and again, and then the big reveal happened and I was still shocked and surprised because I'd had my mind changed so many times, this character was still my main suspect, but I wasn't entirely sure, and I was like omg it really was. It took nothing away from the book, it made it even more intriguing to me to be honest because I had to know who it was, amid all of these changing opinions.

Made For You is a book that has you on the edge of your seat, and infects you with it's tension, you can't help but be engrossed in it and the compelling writing. Made For You is honestly like an episode of Criminal Minds, you have information about the killer from the killer's point of view that the other characters don't have, and you're trying to work it out along with them. Unlike Criminal Minds, this has a cool edge to it with the visions Eva has, and I thought it was a nice touch to keep the book unique and add a fresh twist to it to make it different. It wasn't overdone, it was interesting to see her trying to work out how it worked while eliminating future victims, and it slotted in perfectly. Thinking about it, it didn't seem all that out there while I was reading, I wasn't thinking "ooh supernatural" I was thinking, "man this is better than Criminal Minds". Truth.


This has been a surprisingly less rambling review than usual and I'm quite proud haha! But yes, for fans of Criminal Minds, this is perfect, with a nice twist, and the same I'll say for crime fans. I kinda want more of Eva to be honest!

Wishing For Wednesday #5

This week I've got a nice little collection of gems for you!
One is the final installment in one of my favourite trilogies by one of my favourite authors, and I'm seriously excited for it's release, I honestly can't wait, I can re-read them again and again!
Another is a new release from one of my favourite authors!
Aaanndd the last one sounds thrillingly different!
Quite a nice little mix, I think, personally!

Jackaby

“Miss Rook, I am not an occultist,” Jackaby said. “I have a gift that allows me to see truth where others see the illusion--and there are many illusions. All the world’s a stage, as they say, and I seem to have the only seat in the house with a view behind the curtain.”

Newly arrived in New Fiddleham, New England, 1892, and in need of a job, Abigail Rook meets R. F. Jackaby, an investigator of the unexplained with a keen eye for the extraordinary--including the ability to see supernatural beings. Abigail has a gift for noticing ordinary but important details, which makes her perfect for the position of Jackaby’s assistant. On her first day, Abigail finds herself in the midst of a thrilling case: A serial killer is on the loose. The police are convinced it’s an ordinary villain, but Jackaby is certain it’s a nonhuman creature, whose existence the police--with the exception of a handsome young detective named Charlie Cane--deny.

Doctor Who meets Sherlock in William Ritter’s debut novel, which features a detective of the paranormal as seen through the eyes of his adventurous and intelligent assistant in a tale brimming with cheeky humor and a dose of the macabre.

Jackaby is out September 16th, pre-order your copy here.

Made For You 

When Eva Tilling wakes up in the hospital, she’s confused—who in her sleepy little North Carolina town could have hit her with their car? And why? But before she can consider the question, she finds that she’s awoken with a strange new skill: the ability to foresee people’s deaths when they touch her. While she is recovering from the hit-and-run, Nate, an old flame, reappears, and the two must traverse their rocky past as they figure out how to use Eva’s power to keep her friends—and themselves—alive. But while Eva and Nate grow closer, the killer grows increasingly frantic in his attempt to get to Eva.

For the first time, New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr has applied her extraordinary talent to contemporary realism. Chilling twists, unrequited obsession, and high-stakes romance drive this Gothic, racy thriller—a story of small-town oppression and salvation. Melissa’s fans, and every YA reader, will find its wild ride enthralling.

Made For You is out September 16th, pre-order your copy here.

Unmade

Who will be the sacrifice?

Kami has lost the boy she loves, is tied to a boy she does not, and faces an enemy more powerful than ever before. With Jared missing for months and presumed dead, Kami must rely on her new magical link with Ash for the strength to face the evil spreading through her town.

Rob Lynburn is now the master of Sorry-in-the-Vale, and he demands a death. Kami will use every tool at her disposal to stop him. Together with Rusty, Angela, and Holly, she uncovers a secret that might be the key to saving the town. But with knowledge comes responsibility—and a painful choice. A choice that will risk not only Kami’s life, but also the lives of those she loves most.

This final book in the Lynburn Legacy is a wild, entertaining ride from beginning to shocking end.

Unmade is out September 25rd, pre-order your copy here.