Blood Highway by Gina Wohlsdorf | Review

Blood Highway by Gina Wohlsdorf
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Publication Date: August 7, 2018
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 320
Source: eARC from Publisher
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Goodreads Description

A gripping, surprising, and sexy thriller with a big, pounding heart, Blood Highway takes a seventeen-year-old girl on a brutal journey into adulthood on a road trip that threatens to kill her before she reaches the end.

Rainy Cain, a tough, troubled high school senior, desperately wants to escape the confines of her life in Minneapolis. When her increasingly unstable mother suddenly commits suicide, Rainy thinks she has found her chance. Instead, her father, Sam—who she had always believed died before she was born—escapes from prison and abducts her, taking her on a cross-country trek in pursuit of millions of dollars that he believes her mother had kept from a botched robbery years earlier. On their heels the whole way is a young Minneapolis detective intent on bringing Rainy safely home. It is an odyssey that will test Rainy’s considerable instincts about sanity and madness, and keep readers turning pages till the twisty end.

My Thoughts

ARC provided by Algonquin Books for honest review.

Typically I don't read a lot of thrillers so I never know what to expect when I start one. I was really intrigued after reading the synopsis and was excited to see how the story would play out. Unfortunately, Blood Highway had a bad case of giving away too much of the plot in the description. If so much of the story hadn't been revealed before I even started reading it could've had a stronger impact.

It took me a while to get into this story. The beginning was really confusing and I'm still not completely sure I understood what was going on. We are following 17 year old Rainy as she does her best to deal with the crappy life she's been dealt. It's not clearly stated but it's hinted that her mother might have some type of mental illness. It has gotten so bad it's like Rainey doesn't exist to her mother. She's forced to lie and steal to take care of herself.

I'm not sure if Rainy, or any of the other characters that appeared were meant to be likable. Each were well rounded but they had so many flaws it was hard to feel connected to any of them. I didn't exactly like Rainy but I admired her tenacity, especially when it came to her survival. Throughout the story Rainy made some bad decisions but every step of the way I hoped she would succeed. Also, I wasn't sure how I was supposed to feel about Blaine but I quickly grew to like him. I've never felt so conflicted about a set of character but I was happy Rainy and Blaine were able to be there for each other.

Blood Highway was such a dark, twisted story. It took me a while to wrap my head around some of the things that happened. Some of what happened still makes me feel wrong and violated. There was so much build up throughout the majority of the story and I didn't like the way it ended so suddenly. It left me feeling really unsatisfied with the ending. This was an intriguing and sometimes unsettling story but there was too much that felt missing for me to enjoy it more.

Trigger warnings for abduction, extreme violence, drug use, suicide, child neglect.

You Will Be Mine by Natasha Preston | ARC Review

You Will Be Mine by Natasha Preston
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: February 6, 2018
Genre: YA, Thriller
Pages: 304
Source: eARC from InkSlinger PR
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Goodreads Description

Love turns deadly in a new, heart-pounding thriller from Natasha Preston, author of the runaway bestsellers The Cellar and The Cabin.

ROSES ARE RED

VIOLETS ARE BLUE

WATCH YOUR BACK

I’M COMING FOR YOU

Lylah and her friends can’t wait to spend a night out together. Partying is the perfect way to let loose from the stress of life and school, and Lylah hopes that hitting the dance floor with Chase, her best friend, will bring them closer together. She’s been crushing on him since they met. If only he thought of her the same way…

The girls are touching up their makeup and the guys are sliding on their coats when the doorbell rings. No one is there. An envelope sits on the doormat. It’s an anonymous note addressed to their friend Sonny. A secret admirer? Maybe. They all laugh it off.

Except Sonny never comes home. And a new note arrives:

YOUR TURN

My Thoughts

You Will Be Mine is a mystery/thriller that takes place around Valentine's Day. This book centers around Lylah and her group of friends right before they are about to go out to a Valentine's themed play. Right before they leave there's a creepy note that has been left on their doorstep made using letters clipped from magazines. They all play it off as a prank but that changes when Sonny never comes home.

I didn't enjoy this book as much as I was expecting to. The mystery element was really interesting and what made me want to push through the story. However, there were more elements that I had problems with than I enjoyed. I didn't care for any of the characters. One person made a suggestion of who might be behind what was going on and they all just blindly went along with it even though there wasn't any proof. It frustrated me that characters constantly made terrible decisions even when they knew what they were doing was wrong. Also, I didn't find it very believable the way the investigators handled the whole situation. Overall, I thought this was an okay thriller but it's not one I would recommend for everyone.

You Will Be Mine by Natasha Preston | Excerpt

You Will Be Mine by Natasha Preston
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: February 6, 2018
Genre: YA, Thriller
Pages: 304
Find on Goodreads

Goodreads Description

Love turns deadly in a new, heart-pounding thriller from Natasha Preston, author of the runaway bestsellers The Cellar and The Cabin.

ROSES ARE RED

VIOLETS ARE BLUE

WATCH YOUR BACK

I’M COMING FOR YOU

Lylah and her friends can’t wait to spend a night out together. Partying is the perfect way to let loose from the stress of life and school, and Lylah hopes that hitting the dance floor with Chase, her best friend, will bring them closer together. She’s been crushing on him since they met. If only he thought of her the same way…

The girls are touching up their makeup and the guys are sliding on their coats when the doorbell rings. No one is there. An envelope sits on the doormat. It’s an anonymous note addressed to their friend Sonny. A secret admirer? Maybe. They all laugh it off.

Except Sonny never comes home. And a new note arrives:

YOUR TURN

Excerpt

I breathe in deep through my nose and out through my mouth-an exercise my therapist taught me when I started to feel like I was going to fall apart. I can slowly feel myself start to relax when the doorbell rings.

Sighing, I get up. My housemates must've forgotten their keys or be carrying too many bags to unlock the door.

I glance through the window, but no one is there.

Another doorbell ditch?

My blood runs cold as I open the door.

An envelope is sitting on our mat. The world turns mute as the blood rushes to my ears. Bending down, I scoop up the envelope. It's addressed to Isaac. And it looks like exactly the one that came for Sonny. 

No…

I turn it over and pull out the note. My hands are shaking as I read:

YOUR TURN

"Isaac!" rips from my throat.

"What?" he calls from his room down the hall. My voice is trapped in my throat as I look up and down the street. There are still a few folks leaving flowers, looking at the makeshift memorial in front of our house. Did one of them do this? Did one of them see who left the note? I feel so exposed. Vulnerable.

I draw back inside and shut the door, trembling.

Isaac's footsteps thud from his bedroom into the foyer. "Lylah, what?" His face falls and his eyes widen as he sees what's in my hand. "Is that another note?"

Nodding, I hand it to him.

"Jesus," he whispers. "Who was it addressed to?"

I look up at him, my vision blurring with tears. "You."