April 2023 Reads

April was full of work and not as much reading as usual, but here are a few I managed to get through!

In 2017 a teenage couple (Tallulah and Zach) who are new parents vanish into thin air one night when they're out on a date. There seem to be no leads, nowhere to look, and the case goes cold.

In 2019 a new transplant in town begins getting messages which turn out to be clues about the young couple that vanished so mysteriously two years earlier. She befriends and starts working with the missing girl's mother to uncover the truth of what happened that night.

This was a great mystery/thriller! The character writing is great and the drip drip drip of clues and events keeps you hooked until the end! The book goes back and forth between 2017, 2019, and pre-2017 when Tallulah was in highschool and builds a great story along the way. Loved it!

TW: abuse, sexual assault.

Tell Me Everything is both a memoir and a true crime book - remember that when you're reading because I honestly kept forgetting it was non-fiction, it reads like a novel.

Erika Krouse finds herself as an accidental PI who is hired to work on the prosecution side of civil lawsuit of a sexual assault case regarding the University of Colorado football team. The book takes you through her investigation, the relationships she builds with witnesses, and ultimately the ins and outs of the investigation.

The facts around the case are hard to hear, and while the book is great the subject matter may not be appropriate for all readers and may be too disturbing for some as well.

Acts of Violet was our April Book Club read. Conceptually, I liked it. Beyond that...not as much. The concept is that Violet Volk, a famous and revered magician, disappears in the middle of her act, in the middle of a trick one night and is never seen again.

The book picks up ten years after Volk's disappearance as her fans (and family) are preparing for a 10 year anniversary event. The book is heavily focused on Volk's past, her sister dealing with the past and present in current time, and a podcast that is trying to solve the mystery.

My problem with the book is two fold - the character development is weak and the author spends an inordinate amount of time on (what I deem as) unnecessary filler and not enough time on the end of the book. I was so disappointed because I ADORE the author's book Oona Out Of Order (read it!) and assumed this book would have me equally enthralled, but sadly it left me disappointed.

xoxo,

iamfunchris