In true Kelly’s Rambles style, January started off well with blog posts and now it is the end of February… whoops! Also in true Kelly’s Rambles style, I’m not going to worry about it and I’m just going to keep posting when the bug bites and today is has bitten! I’ve read some pretty good books recently so thought it would be a good time to share some mini reviews with you!

The Appeal by Janice Hallett

Wow!! At the end of 2021 I was seeing this book everywhere and knew I needed to pick it up. I’m not sure I could have picked a better first read for 2022. I was hooked immediately and loved the concept of being involved in the investigation and trying to find out who the murderer was – it gave me a real sense of being on the team! Absolutely brilliant and I’ll definitely be reading her next book! If you’re a fan of murder mystery but with a twist then you should definitely give this one a go!

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Ninth House was on my tbr for SO long but I’m glad I finally picked it up as a poll pick in January. It did take me a good chunk of the book to really get into it but every good fantasy tends to need some world building and Leigh Bardugo is brilliant at it. Full of darkness, magic and unpredictable twists and turns, I really enjoyed this and hope there will be a second!

You’ll Be the Death of Me by Karen McManus

You’ll Be The Death Of Me is a classic Karen McManus novel. Friendship, murder and mystery. An easy read with a decent murder mystery and a jam packed final third of the book for the big reveal. The ending felt slightly rushed to be and I do think it would actually be good to get another book with these characters as the ending definitely left things open for more…

She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

DNF

It is really unlike me to DNF a book but I feel like I just couldn’t gel with this one which was ar real shame as I’ve also heard so many brilliant things about it! It was also a suggested poll pick and my first unsuccessful one. It’s definitely a book I may return to in the future as I think I simply wasn’t in the mood for this book at the time!

The Girl Who Came Out of the Woods by Emily Barr

I really liked Arty and getting to see her view on our ‘normality’ after leaving life in the Clearing. The interlinked chapters turned out to be an unexpected twist. I liked the story but it ended a bit suddenly! My hopes going into this book was that more of it would be set in the Clearing as I am a huge fan of reading about cults so I was a little disappointed that but overall I enjoyed seeing Arty learn more about the world around her.

The Night They Vanished by Vanessa Savage

It took a few chapters to get into as the beginning felt quite random and not what I was expecting but then all of a sudden I was absolutely hooked and read the rest in one sitting. Filled with twists and turns galore the story of Hanna and Saha is one that was truly gripping! I always love a book set in Wales too! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this one, it releases in the UK on 5th May so keep an eye out if you like a twisty thriller!

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Keep an eye out this week for my review of The Last Firefox by Lee Newbury which I read this week and LOVED!! I am also currently reading and completely loving The Gilded Ones by Namina Forma.

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Have you read any of these books? What did you think? Have you added any of these to your own TBR?

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