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Three hundred gone. Just six left.
The building was once home to families, friends, children, couples, love, life. Now, almost every apartment is empty, the inhabitants forced out by the developers tearing down the old social housing to build luxury homes.

Only a few of the inhabitants have fought back against the attempts to evict them from their homes and their histories. And they have been joined by passionate student protester and would-be journalist, Ella, who is leading a high-profile media campaign to protect those who refuse to leave.

One night, Ella returns home to find a horrible scene awaiting her-the dead body of a mysterious man. Panicked, she calls her neighbor Molly, who convinces her that the police won’t believe she’s innocent. Together the two women concoct a gruesome plan to hide the body.

But the secret won’t stay buried for long. As truth hangs in the balance, a neighbor tells Molly he had heard Ella arguing with a man in the hallway and mistrust grows between Ella and Molly, as repercussions of that night threaten to change both women’s lives forever.

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MY REVIEW

Ella and Molly are activists. Ella is young and new to the activist community, whereas Molly is older and has been involved with the activist community for years. They are both living in a building that is evicting the tenants, and most tenants have already left. After a rooftop party, Molly receives a call from Ella to come help her. When Molly arrives, there is a dead man in Ella’s apartment. Due to the women’s backgrounds, they don’t think the police will believe they’re innocent, so they opt to dispose of his body and not report his death. As time progresses, mistrust grows between the two women.

This Is How It Ends is told from two points of view, Ella and Molly. The book starts with the defining event (i.e., the dead guy) between these two women, then Ella’s story moves in reverse chronological order, while Molly’s story moves forward with the present day. The alternating viewpoints were interesting, because this is the type of story where that works, but the time changes (past vs present) were sometimes confusing.

This Is How It Ends was a quick read, but I wasn’t really interested in the characters. I was never drawn into the story and fully immersed. The last half of the book was much more intriguing than the first half, and I did enjoy the twist at the end.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books by Eva Dolan:

1. This Is How It Ends

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BOOK INFO

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BOOK BLURB

Sometimes the secrets we keep are more dangerous than the ones we reveal…

To all my old friends:
So here you all are. Nice to see you can show up for a person once he’s dead.

When Ruby St. James returns to her hometown, it is to the grave of her old friend Danny, a member of a group that was, ten years ago, Ruby’s whole world. The crew made a pact back then: stay together, stay loyal, and stay honest. But that was before all of the lies.

Because even friends keep secrets. They just don’t stay secret for long.

Now Danny has left behind a letter for each of them, issuing one final ultimatum: share your darkest betrayal to the group, or risk it coming out in a trap he has created. When past mistakes resurface, the lines of friendship blurb, and four old friends are left trying to understand what it means to lie to the ones you love best.

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MY REVIEW

A group of childhood friends gather 10 years after high school at one of their funerals. “The Crew” is Danny, Ruby, Murphy, Ally, and Emmett. They have fallen out of touch over the years, but come together at Danny’s funeral. Danny has left a sealed envelope for each of his friends containing their biggest secrets. He wants them to tell their secrets to each other, or they risk a more public outing to occur if they don’t come clean on their own.

Friends and Other Liars is told from multiple points of view, but mostly from Ruby’s POV. The story is also told with multiple timelines, current day and flashbacks from their younger years.

Friend drama. A light, entertaining read that kept my interest. I was curious what everyone’s secrets would be, though they were not hard to guess. I read this on vacation, and it was a good choice for a vacation read.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

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BOOK BLURB

The stunning new novel from the international #1 bestselling author — a searing, spellbinding blend of cold-case thriller and psychological suspense.

Two girls are forced into the woods at gunpoint. One runs for her life. One is left behind…

Twenty-eight years ago, Charlotte and Samantha Quinn’s happy small-town family life was torn apart by a terrifying attack on their family home. It left their mother dead. It left their father — Pikeville’s notorious defense attorney — devastated. And it left the family fractured beyond repair, consumed by secrets from that terrible night.

Twenty-eight years later, and Charlie has followed in her father’s footsteps to become a lawyer herself — the ideal good daughter. But when violence comes to Pikeville again — and a shocking tragedy leaves the whole town traumatized — Charlie is plunged into a nightmare. Not only is she the first witness on the scene, but it’s a case that unleashes the terrible memories she’s spent so long trying to suppress. Because the shocking truth about the crime that destroyed her family nearly thirty years ago won’t stay buried forever…

Packed with twists and turns, brimming with emotion and heart, The Good Daughter is fiction at its most thrilling.

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MY REVIEW

The Quinn’s lives are changed one day when two masked men attack their home. The mother and two daughters, Charlotte and Samantha, are home when the men attack. The father, a defense attorney, has made many enemies over the years, but this attack devastates his whole family. Fast-forward twenty-eight years after the attack. Charlotte has become an attorney, like her father. She practices law in the same small town she grew up in and has stayed close to her father. One morning, violence comes to their small town again, and Charlotte is a witness. The recent violence brings back disturbing memories of the attack on her family, and reveals old secrets.

The Good Daughter is a fast-paced read. The plot was clever. The characters were complex and well-developed. The family drama was compelling.

There is a good deal of violence in The Good Daughter. The opening sequence of events (flashback on the attack on The Quinns), the recent violent event, and occasional flashbacks throughout the story. Some of it’s graphic, so not for the squeamish.

Dark and suspenseful. I was hooked with this story. It’s a fair sized novel at just over 500 pages, and I stayed up to finish the entire book in one night.

Books in The Good Daughter series:

1. Last Breath
2. The Good Daughter

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BOOK INFO

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BOOK BLURB

Serial meets Ruth Ware’s In A Dark, Dark Wood in this inventive and twisty psychological thriller about a mega-hit podcast that reopens a murder case and threatens to unravel the carefully constructed life of the victim’s daughter—now a major Apple TV+ series starring Octavia Spencer and Aaron Paul, produced by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine!

The only thing more dangerous than a lie…is the truth.

Josie Buhrman has spent the last ten years trying to escape her family and with good reason. After her father’s murder thirteen years prior, her mother ran away to join a cult and her twin sister Lanie, once Josie’s closest friend and confidant, betrayed her in an unimaginable way. Now, Josie has finally put down roots in New York, settling into domestic life with her partner Caleb, and that’s where she intends to stay.

The only problem is that she has lied to Caleb about every detail of her past—starting with her last name.

When investigative reporter Poppy Parnell sets off a media firestorm with a megahit podcast that reopens the long-closed case of Josie’s father’s murder, questioning whether the wrong person may be behind bars, Josie’s world begins to unravel. Meanwhile, the unexpected death of Josie’s long-absent mother forces her to return to her Midwestern hometown where she must confront the demons from her past—and the lies on which she has staked her future.

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MY REVIEW

Josie’s father, Chuck Buhrman, was murdered when she was a teenager. Her twin sister, Lanie, saw the murder take place and identified the killer, a neighborhood teenager named Warren Cave. Warren was found guilty and spent the next 13 years in prison. The book picks up from there, 13 years after the trial, when a new podcast renews interest in the mystery… and questions if Warren really did it.

After her father’s death, Josie’s family did not handle things well. The mother abandoned her daughters and joined a cult. The cult did not allow contact with outsiders, so nobody has had contact with her since the trial.

The twins spent their remaining teenage years being raised by their aunt. Josie was always the good daughter, while Lanie was the rebellious one. This resulted in several altercations while they were teenagers, and ultimately ended with Josie leaving and never returning to their small town.

After the twin’s mother dies, Josie decides to return home for the funeral. Once she arrives, she learns a few things have changed since she left, her sister being the biggest change.

The story is primarily told from Josie’s point of view. She is now in her late twenties and has distanced herself from her past, including moving and changing her name. She has a good job, a nice place to live, and a serious relationship with her boyfriend, who she’s never told the truth about her family history. She has never had any reason to question who killed her father, and only wants to put her past behind her.

Other parts of the book are transcripts of the podcast. Poppy Parnell, the investigative journalist who started the podcast, interviews everyone she can that was connected to the Chuck Buhrman murder case. The podcast has thrust the Buhrman family in the spotlight, and they are angry and upset with their family history becoming a casual topic to be debated online.

I had fun reading this thriller. It’s well written, and I loved the combination of traditional storytelling with podcast transcripts and social media updates (Twitter and Reddit). I see where this is touted as Serial meets Ruth Ware. The podcast in Are You Sleeping had the feel of Serial, and I couldn’t help but compare the two while I read. As for the writing, it’s a very readable thriller, similar in style to novels by Ruth Ware.

Are You Sleeping is Kathleen Barber’s debut novel, and I look forward to reading more by her. Are You Sleeping is also published under the title Truth Be Told.

Books by Kathleen Barber:

1. Are You Sleeping
2. Follow Me