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#WinterGamesPromptMaze
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OutsmartYourShelf
Wintergames | Litsy Litsy
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Didn't quite manage to complete #WinterGamesPromptMaze but I had a good go.
Thanks to @thearomaofbooks for hosting.

#WinterGames #HollyJollyReaders @Laughterhp

TheAromaofBooks Yay!!! I got rather stuck myself! 😂 11mo
11 likes1 comment
review
OutsmartYourShelf
Dead of Winter | Darcy Coates
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Pickpick

Christa & bf, Kiernan, join a small tour group heading to an isolated lodge in the Rocky Mountains for 2 weeks. They are almost there when things start to go wrong: first a fallen tree blocks the road, Christa has an accidental fall & is separated from Kiernan when he & Christa take a short walk whilst waiting for the coach to be freed, & Christa only just finds her way back before succumbing to the snowstorm. (continued)

OutsmartYourShelf The rest of the group have had to take refuge in a small hunting cabin due to the bad weather, things could be worse, until the group starts to be picked off one by one. Is there a killer out there or is the threat closer to home?

This was a good read to finish off 2023. It started off a little slow & I felt the pace was a bit off, but it soon picked up. I thought it was well-written if a little predictable
11mo
OutsmartYourShelf (I guessed what was happening almost straight away) but I still enjoyed it. Most the characters weren't very likeable but that's how you make a 'locked room' mystery work - plenty of suspects.

Verdict: well-written & hugely entertaining but rather predictable. 4🌟

Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5330090696
Read 30th-31st Dec 2023

#WinterGames #HollyJollyReaders @Laughterhp
11mo
See All 7 Comments
Catsandbooks ❄️🍭❤️ 11mo
Andrew65 Excellent 👏👏👏 11mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 11mo
PuddleJumper ❄️❄️ 11mo
22 likes1 stack add7 comments
review
OutsmartYourShelf
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Pickpick

One year ago Carrie's husband, Sean Miller, went missing on Mount Everest. He had been part of a small group aiming to reach the summit, but was never seen again after the final push for the top. Carrie is determined she is going to find her husband's body & bring him home for burial, & their friend Tom, Sean's best friend & former climbing partner, volunteers to accompany her. (continued)

OutsmartYourShelf Their Sherpa guide gives Carrie a journal left behind by Sean, & she reads this whilst they start their journey. It seems that Sean was haunted by something up there on Everest & spent the last few days feeling watched by something unseen.

The narrative is mostly told from Carrie's point of view in the present, whilst we get Sean's view from the expedition where he went missing.
11mo
OutsmartYourShelf I'm not gonna lie, I was hoping it was going to be a lot scarier than it turned out to be. The book does discuss the strange things that can happen on the mountain whether it's due to oxygen deprivation or something more supernatural (i.e. Third Man syndrome) but I felt a lot more could have been done with this. The majority of the book seemed to be Carrie being a pain in the ass. 3.5🌟- could have been better. 11mo
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TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 11mo
Emilymdxn I LOVE creepy mountaineering novels! Have you read 11mo
OutsmartYourShelf @Emilymdxn Its an automatic yes from me if it‘s about mountaineering or polar exploration. I‘m fascinated by those two subjects. Echo is on my TBR list but I haven‘t read it yet. 11mo
DieAReader 🥳🥳🥳 11mo
Andrew65 Excellent 👏👏👏 11mo
Catsandbooks ❄️🍭❤️ 11mo
21 likes10 comments
review
OutsmartYourShelf
Good Girls Don't Die | Christina Henry
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Mehso-so

Celia wakes up in a house with a husband & a daughter she doesn't recognise. When a nasty neighbour, who lives next door to the restaurant Celia supposedly owns, is murdered it looks like Celia is being primed to take the blame. Can she work out who she really is & who the killer is?

Allie has arranged to go to the beach for her birthday with friends Madison & Cam, however when the two friends' boyfriends tag along, Allie is annoyed. (Continued)

OutsmartYourShelf She falls asleep on the way there & when she wakes up they are not at the beach - Brad (Cam's bf) has driven them to an isolated cabin in the woods. Horror movie fan Allie is already uneasy & when a stranger starts trying to break into the cabin that night, it looks like big screen horror has become real.

11mo
OutsmartYourShelf Maggie wakes up in a shipping container with a group of women. None of them know each other or where they are, but they are all wearing t-shirts with a number on the back. They are finally released into The Maze, a deadly obstacle course, where they are told that if they want to see their loved ones alive again, they have to complete the course within 12 hours.

11mo
OutsmartYourShelf The synopsis sold me on this one & it was one of my few pre-orders for 2023. Maybe I was expecting too much, but it was a bit of a let-down. I didn't really care for the Celia storyline which was rather boring, the Allie & Maggie storylines were much better in my opinion, but it was the final reveal which was the worst - it was all a bit pedestrian. It was good but not great & left me feeling a bit unsatisfied really.
3⭐

11mo
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TheAromaofBooks At least it's off the list!! 11mo
DieAReader 🥳🥳🥳 11mo
Andrew65 Well done 👏👏👏 11mo
Catsandbooks ❄️🍭❤️ 11mo
18 likes8 comments
review
OutsmartYourShelf
The Resort | Sarah Goodwin
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Pickpick

Perpetual screw-up Mila & her husband Ethan are enroute to her sister's destination wedding. After picking up the hire car, Mila falls to sleep whilst Ethan drives & when she wakes up, they are lost. As they pull over to get their bearings, the car engine dies & they can't restart it. The weather is turning cold & snowy & no cars have come past whilst they have been there, so they decide to head down to a village signposted on a nearby post.

OutsmartYourShelf When they reach the village, it is obviously deserted but as it's too late for anything else, they decide to break into & sleep in one of the empty cabins. It's not easy but they finally fall to sleep, but when Mila wakes up hours later, Ethan has disappeared. The snow outside shows no sign of Ethan having gone outside so where is he? And why does Mila feel as if she is being watched by someone or something in the deserted village? 11mo
OutsmartYourShelf The narrative is from Mila's point of view & we get the present-day & an occasional flashback to Mila & her sister's childhood. Mila is a difficult main character to like at first as she seems to have been the 'golden child' whilst her sister was the scapegoat & she really played into that, but Mila really wants to make it up to her sister & give her the wedding of her dreams.
11mo
OutsmartYourShelf It did irritate me that the blurb & the cover make you think it's a deserted ski resort, but it's not really, it's just a deserted village of 6 small wooden cabins. It was also pretty easy to work out what was going on, I had worked it out really quickly as the clues are all there, & just kept waiting for the realisation to dawn on the MC. The final few chapters certainly made up for the rest of the book in intensity & nerve-racking tension. 3.5🌟 11mo
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5feet.of.fury Yeah you would think a book called “The Resort” spends the majority of the time at …the resort… lol 11mo
DieAReader 🥳🥳🥳 11mo
Andrew65 Excellent 🎄🎄🎄 11mo
OutsmartYourShelf @5feet.of.fury Exactly 😀 11mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 11mo
BookmarkTavern Sounds thrilling! 11mo
PuddleJumper 💙❄️💙 11mo
Catsandbooks ❄️🍭❤️ 11mo
29 likes13 comments
review
OutsmartYourShelf
Fir | Sharon Gosling
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Pickpick

The Stromberg family suddenly pick up & move from their comfortable life to an isolated house, surrounded by pine forests, in northern Sweden. Although their mother & father seem happy enough, the youngest Stromberg is angry at being torn away from their old life. At first the surprisingly large house is part-occupied by a group of children on conservation work, but when they leave, the Strombergs are left alone with just the weird housekeeper.

OutsmartYourShelf This is quite an atmospheric read. The author conveys the sense of isolation & feeling surrounded by malevolence quite well. The reader never learns the narrator's first name or anything else about them really, & maybe it's personal bias, but I felt as if it was a teenage girl. Not that it really matters. I enjoyed it & an extra star for choosing that ending. The author could have wrapped it all up nicely but the actual ending is rather bleak.
(edited) 11mo
OutsmartYourShelf A book that I will probably re-read at some point. 4🌟

TWs: animal death, gore, blood, mention of miscarriage.

Sorry to my team #HollyJollyReaders for going missing for the last week or so, but I tested positive for Covid on Christmas Eve & had been feeling a bit off before. Still not back to normal but I do have some reviews to catch up on.

Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3161110984
Read 17th-21st Dec 2023

#WinterGames
(edited) 11mo
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TheAromaofBooks Great progress!! 11mo
BookmarkTavern Love this cover! 🖤 11mo
Texreader Also works for #foodandlit 11mo
Andrew65 Excellent 🎄🎄🎄 11mo
DieAReader 🥳🥳🥳 11mo
Catsandbooks 🍭❄️❤️ 11mo
27 likes9 comments
review
julieclair
So, This Is Christmas | Tracy Andreen
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Pickpick

A sweet enemies-to-lovers romance set in a beautiful, snowy, small European country. Main characters who bring out the best in each other. A just right holiday romance.
#WinterGames #TeamWreathItAndWeep @StayCurious
#Rushathon #Adventathon #CandyLandReadathon #LittenListen #GottaCatchEmAll #HolidayRomance #WinterGamesPromptMaze #CastTheDie #WinterGamesAtoZ #CozyReadBingo

Gissy One enjoyed this one too (edited) 12mo
30 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
julieclair
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Pickpick

Fun cozy mystery set upstairs/downstairs in Victorian England. I listened on audio, and found it a bit hard to follow because of the numerous characters, both sleuths and suspects. However, this is #36 in a series, and I haven‘t read any others, so if I had been familiar with the sleuths, the audio probably would have been easier to follow.

#BookedInTime @Cuilin @dabbe
#WinterGames #TeamWreathItAndWeep @StayCurious

30 likes4 comments
review
OutsmartYourShelf
Malice | Keigo Higashino
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Pickpick

Osamu Nonoguchi visits his friend, bestselling novelist Kunihiko Hidaka, the day before Hidaka is due to emigrate to Canada with his new wife. Later that evening, Nonoguchi receives a telephone call from Hidaka asking him to return to his home as he needs to see him again urgently. When Nonoguchi reaches the house, all the lights are off & Hidaka doesn't answer the door, so he raises the alarm & Police Detective Kyochiro Kaga is given the case.

OutsmartYourShelf The police find Hidaka dead on the floor of his office, with both the door to the office & the front door to the house locked from the inside. Both Nonoguchi & Hidaka's wife have alibis for the time of death. Who killed the author & why?

The reader is kept at arms length from the investigation & the characters really as the murder & circumstances are told from written confessions, notes, or interview transcriptions.
12mo
OutsmartYourShelf It is a writing style that takes a little getting used to. The story starts slowly but as the twists & turns of the case started to reveal themselves, I found myself needing to know what happened next. There's no gore & most of the TWs below are not graphic. 3.5🌟

TWs: murder, infidelity, sexual assault, animal cruelty/death, bullying.

#WinterGames #HollyJollyReaders @Laughterhp
(edited) 12mo
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TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 12mo
Ruthiella Sounds interesting! I‘m really interested in exploring crime fiction from other parts of the world! 🎄🔪💀🎅🏻 12mo
BarbaraBB I really like these series too 12mo
DieAReader 🥳🥳🥳 12mo
Catsandbooks 🍭❄️❤️ 12mo
Andrew65 Excellent 🎄🎅🏼🎄 12mo
21 likes10 comments
review
OutsmartYourShelf
The Sittaford Mystery | Agatha Christie
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Mehso-so

When Captain Trevelyan rents his remote house to an outsider for the winter & takes a house in town, his nearest neighbours in the small village of Sittaford are perplexed. The new temporary tenants, a woman & her daughter, are pleasant enough & they often extend invitations to visit. One evening, the women & four visitors decide to hold a séance, but things take a turn when a message comes through purporting to be from Trevelyan himself. (Cont'd)

OutsmartYourShelf He says he is dead & that it was murder. Although saying he thinks it is all rubbish, his closest friend, Major Burnaby, cannot rest until he knows the truth, so sets off walking through a snowstorm for 6 miles to check on Trevelyan. Alas, he is dead & the fact that his estranged nephew was in the local town of Exhampton raises suspicions.

The police inspector on the case is Inspector Narracott but he takes second place to the fiancée of
12mo
OutsmartYourShelf Trevelyan's nephew, James Pearson, who takes it upon herself to investigate. I found her rather annoying to be honest - all that fake “Oh you are so clever“ attitude to the men involved in the case became a bit repetitive after the first half dozen times. I also thought it was one of the easier Christie plots to work out. Overall, not the author's best work as it was rather dull. 3⭐

TWs: murder, colonialism, misogyny, racism
12mo
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TheAromaofBooks Great progress!! 12mo
Catsandbooks 🍭❄️❤️ 12mo
OutsmartYourShelf #192025 (1931) @LibraryBelle Another one not tagged! I dropped the ball on these. 2mo
Librarybelle No worries! 2mo
33 likes7 comments