February Book Wrap-Up
You know, the kind of month where you suddenly get so much into reading that you start finishing one book a day but then something happens and the rest of the month goes by without getting even halfway through a single book? It’s like you cannot find a good book no matter what. Change genres, change authors, even try new authors, but the books just stop clicking. Yep, February was exactly that kind of month for me.
I was going at my normal reading pace until I realized that my semester break was about to end in less than a week and then what? Yep, you guessed it right. It was like I was observing some kind of “A book a day keeps the doctor away” saying or something, and honestly, by the speed I was going, I was pretty sure February would turn out to be my most number of read books month. However, after finishing 3 books in 3 days, I got a huge slump. I mean, it wasn’t really a slump, it was more like a where-did-all-the-good-books-go phase, and till today, I haven’t been able to find a good book but eh, I’m glad I even completed three books this month. Let’s talk about them one by one.
Don’t Let Her Stay by Nicola Sanders
The first book I read this month was a murder mystery that one of my Goodreads’ friends had finished recently and trusting her blindly when it comes to books, I was like, I have to read it and so I did.
Don’t Let Her Stay by Nicola Sanders is a psychological thriller and one that keeps you up all night. Like literally. It was my first book by the author and boy, was it worth giving a try?
The story begins with a happy little family, enjoying their lives and their small happy moments that they know are going to feel like big ones someday. Richard with his beautiful wife Joanne and a 4-month-old baby girl named Evie is happy or at least contented with his life. So is his wife but that doesn’t stay for long when one night, Richard receives a letter from his 20-year-old daughter. One he had from his previous marriage. Her re-presence, after being not-so-happy with his father for marrying again is quite surprising but mentioning her little sister and wanting to meet her, well, what could be better than adding another member to their family?
Joanne is happy, and excited even to meet Chloe and the excitement definitely turns out to be worth it when she first meets the lovely, sweet girl. She is everything Joanne would call a pleasant girl to be. She was lovable, innocent, and seemed to be really nice but one thing Joanne hadn’t expected was for it to be all an act. The sweet little girl in front of her father, a gaslighting, evil human being behind his back.
What was true and what wasn’t, Joanne didn’t know. Was Chloe a good girl as her father said or was she the person she acted like when he wasn’t around?
This novel gave me goosebumps in both good and bad ways and the number of times I just wanted to run away from it all because Joanne wasn’t is uncountable but that’s exactly what makes it so much more exciting. To know the truth but then to discover that you never knew the truth. To guess the ending but guess it wrong. Definitely a 5-star book!
The Gift by Freida McFadden
Freida McFadden never disappoints. Never. Well, maybe sometimes she does, we will talk about that later, but for now, she usually never disappoints and that’s the reason I chose my second read of the month to be a Freida McFadden book.
The Gift by Freid McFadden is a short story consisting of not more than 50 pages. This book is a Christmas thriller, unlike the psychological thrillers she usually writes. And a good one. I don’t how she does it but it’s definitely the reason I like her so much. I’m still quite surprised how she managed to write a whole story, a very happening one and one with an outstanding ending in all of 50 pages. I’m speechless.
If you’re in the mood for a short story and want to keep your nose pinned in the book for an hour, I would more than recommend it because like I said, Freida McFadden never disappoints. Usually.
The Teacher By Freida McFadden
Being one of the biggest Freida McFadden book fans, I was on cloud 9 when I got to know she’s releasing a new book soon and by the synapsis I had read before the release, I was ecstatic to read it. So much so that I literally dnfed my then current read, which was, just so you know, going great, to read my all-time favorite author when this book finally got out.
The Teacher begins with an exciting start. Although Addie Severson’s new year in school might not be the most exciting part of her life after last year’s student-teacher scandal that she was involved in. It is just the kind of start you would expect from McFadden but as the story proceeded, I’m not sure what went wrong. If I’m being honest, I was enjoying the book until the point where I realized that the book itself didn’t know what genre it was.
The story involved mystery, but at the same time, there was a hint of drama as well as being slightly disgusting? I don’t know but I know I’m never gonna befriend people who tell me they liked this book because, at the very best, this book turned out to be a 1-star for me. Now you see why I said Freida McFadden never disappoints. Usually?
While February was my semester break month, I made sure to read as much as I could before college started again. I know three books aren’t a lot but don’t you think, as long as what you’re reading makes you happy, it’s more than enough?
