Stacking the Shelves is a weekly feature hosted by Reading Reality. It is a chance to showcase all the goodies you've collected throughout the week, whether they're bought on-line or in-store, an ARC or a final copy, borrowed from a friend or the library, physical or digital, etc.
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Here we go!
This is year FIVE of Tackling the TBR and I finally have things sort-of under control. My ultimate goal is to get under 500 books, but I also have to be realistic - just think of all the books not even written yet that I will want to read. When I started this mess I was at well over 5,000 books on the TBR, so to be where I am now is pretty incredible.
I will post on the 7th, 14th, 21st, and last day of the month.
Prevous Week's TBR Total: 2,299
Currently Reading
Books Read
Books DNFed: 
Books Added to TBR: 0
Books Removed from TBR: 0
Duplicates Removed: 0
New TBR Total: 2,299
Happy Reading!
Sarah
Stacking the Shelves is a weekly feature hosted by Reading Reality. It is a chance to showcase all the goodies you've collected throughout the week, whether they're bought on-line or in-store, an ARC or a final copy, borrowed from a friend or the library, physical or digital, etc.
I received a free digital ARC from the author via BookSirens in exchange for an honest review.
Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I previously read the author's first book in this series, the review of which you can find HERE. I like this author because he remains respectful of the victims, no many how many years, decades, even a century or two that they have been gone. Sometimes A lot of the time with true crime, the murderers are intentionally or unintentionally glorified, and the victim is lost in the chaos (Meredith Kercher, anyone?)
One thing I really appreciate about this author is that he strictly in the business of providing the facts. He does not use any filler or attempt to tell us what anyone involved "might" have been thinking. I think that is especially important when it comes to true crime because in many cases, we will simply never know - especially those cases that happened so long and all involved are long since gone from here.
As with the author's first volume, there was a good variety here of stories both new to me and ones I was familiar with. I appreciate his ability to convey the story efficiently by giving enough information for me to decide if it is something I want to find more information about. Some of the crimes relayed have full books dedicated solely to them, so it is nice to have a good jumping-off point if I do choose to seek out more information.
I appreciate that the author takes time to research his subjects, including seeking out primary sources from the time period. Even when those Victorians are ridiculously sensational (and they are ALWAYS sensational), there are still good bits of information to be gleaned from their reports.
I am looking forward to volume three!
I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I received an email from NetGalley indicating that the first five hundred requests would be approved.
Rating ⭐
I don't even fucking know what I just read.
In theory, I would have loved this one. Unlikable teenagers being secretive? YES PLEASE!
Sasquatch lore interspersed...eh, but could be interesting.
Spoiler alert: it was not.
Also, there will be spoilers so if you are thinking of reading this dumpster fire, stop here.
So there are stories about the woods and Salvation Creek and over the years many people have gone missing. When/if they've been found, the surrounding circumstances were very strange. Of course, this group of five teens are going into these woods for a random camping trip planned by their lead bully/BFF, Maylee. When only four of the group come home, each has a wildly different story explaining their trip and what they knew about Maylee's movements before she vanished.
The way the story is told is something I like, alternating points of view from the four, but the characters themselves just don't all work. Petra, Maylee's best friend, is the prime example. She was such a charicature, it was absurd. And no way, given her father's position on the police force, would she have offered up all the information that she did because some of it made her look insanely guilty - and for someone who repeatedly presents herself as such an expert on police procedures, surely she would have known talking like all of this would not look good for her, or any of them. She was completely obnoxious and ridiculous. Petra rambled more than anyone and it was just so unlikely.
The whole Sasquatch angle was so riduculous because of how much it seemed like it was going to be important to the story and it fell just as flat as everything else. Petra's half/step-brother (can't remember which) Nolan is obsessed with Sasquatch and guess what? He ends up being the one who kills Maylee, because he THOUGHT SHE WAS A FUCKING SASQUATCH THAT WAS EATING MAYLEE. I mean seriously, what in the actual fuck.
The story alternates among various points of view and we are to believe that the four surviving teens (Nolan, Petra, John {Maylee's boyfriend}, and Abigail [Maylee's former friend]) would just freely talk and ramble and go on and on, knowing they are suspects in Maylee's disappearance. Except John. He does the smart thing and does not answer many questions. Of course, this makes him look guilty. He's not.
So here's what really happened when Maylee disappeared - she invited her ex-friend Abigail to help her stage her disappearance because she wants to be an influencer and wouldn't it be such a huge draw to be the girl survived a few days alone in the woods and eventually returns to civilization? As stupid as that sounds to a normal functioning human being, we also have to accept that this is part of our culture today. No matter HOW absurd it seems.
In the course of the teens all being interogated, Maylee's body is found, the story all comes out, and I was left dumbfounded, asking myself why I wasted time and what the fuck just happened.
The concept was intriguing. I love unreliable narrators and multi-character viewpoints. Those are sure-fire ways to catch my attention.
But Petra and the Sasquatch nonsense ruined what could have been a really good book.
Highly NOT recommended.
