👤👤👤
Remember to stay up to date with the world, listen to those facing atrocities and help spread awareness/donate where you’re able to.
The Storygraph has the feature where you can search for books by the “emotion” users ascribe to it in their reviews. In August, I did the first post “I’m Feeling…” with Lighthearted. As we’ve headed into the depths of Autumn and ‘spooky season’, I thought it would be in the spirit of the season to read some ‘Mysterious’ books. I also feel like November gives Noir/Crime vibes.
I will be rating each book using this emoji: 👤(it’s giving mysterious to me, like who are they?). The mysterious rating is rated out of 5, and can be higher or lower than my actual star rating of the book.
The Examiner; Janice Hallett
rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
When the external examiner arrives to assess the students’ essays and coursework, he becomes convinced that a student was killed on the course and that the others covered it up. But is he right? And if so, who is dead, why were they killed, and who is the murderer? Only a close examination of the evidence will reveal the truth. Your time starts now…
The Examiner follows a group of six students, their lecturer and some additional characters interacting throughout the academic year of an art graduate degree.
I loved the gradual exploration of all the different personalities and how they interacted in the main and private chats. I really enjoyed seeing this character development done through mixed media messages, group chats and personal essays/assignments. This being about art students, I would have loved to have some visual representations of the art, but I can understand why this could have maybe spoilt some reveals.
As someone who works with PG student’s (not in an academic setting), I thought they were well characterised and it’s always good to see a mix of ages and reasons for pursuing academic endeavours. I’m also familiar with the depressing nature of UK universities cutting ‘humanities’ subjects.
I was spoilt for a big reveal, which I don’t mind, and actually made the experience a little more fun as there was an added element of me trying to work out how that spoiler was integrated into the plot.
mysterious?: 👤👤👤
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride; Roshani Chokshi
rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Inside every story is a secret. Inside every marriage is a lie.
A sumptuous, gothic-infused story about a marriage that is unraveled by dark secrets, a friendship cursed to end in tragedy, and the danger of believing in fairy tales – the breathtaking adult debut from New York Timesbestselling author Roshani Chokshi.
I went into this novel knowing next to nothing and that is the perfect way to go into The Last Tale of the Flower Bride. I have not read from Chokshi before, but that definitely needs to change!
Every character is interwoven in fairy-tale symbolism and language. So often in those stories we see illustrations of cruelty that aren’t shied away from and the same nature is present here and instills this sense of foreboding as the mystery unfolds before us. What I liked about The Bridegroom’s chapters is that in some ways he is the reader. His curiosity (both a human strength and weakness) is our own.
I felt connected to Indigo and Azure, and I think a lot of women would, in that this magical sense of ‘girlhood’, friendships and wanting to escape to a place where we will fully and wholly be accepted is relatable and so effortlessly explored in this short book.
We watch, with all the characters, how storytelling can be both danger and solace and I loved the dichotomy of this concept.
The writing is wonderful and draws you into a world that often felt timeless, the words wove the magic of wonder, pain, betrayal, love.
mysterious?: 👤👤👤👤
The Last Murder at the End of the World; Stuart Turton
rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Solve the murder to save what’s left of the world.
If the murder isn’t solved within 92 hours, the fog will smother the island – and everyone on it.
But the security system has also wiped everyone’s memories of exactly what happened the night before, which means that someone on the island is a murderer – and they don’t even know it…
There are always a lot of elements to a Stuart Turton novel and many of them are, or feel, like spoilers. I went into The Last Murder only knowing what the dust jacket told me (which I mostly promptly forgot, so I kind of felt like the villagers).
I like a good countdown and having a murder mystery set in a post-apocalyptic world felt refreshing and new. Despite the obvious threat, the pacing was a mix of slow and fast, which felt genuine for the characters and the small insular island setting.
I enjoyed the different characters and the ways they had their own quirks despite the conformity of the community. The subservience of the villagers to the scientists was well crafted to counter several characters deviation from the norm, which progresses throughout the book.
I read this in two sittings and the audiobook narrator – Adjoa Andoh – did a fantastic job. While the conclusion wasn’t fully satisfying, I enjoyed the reading experience and characters enough to give it a high rating. I don’t think it was necessarily super mysterious and I think it needed a touch more atmosphere.
mysterious?: 👤👤👤
The Naturals; Jennifer Lynn Barnes
rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5
Seventeen-year-old Cassie is a natural at reading people… But, it’s not a skill that she’s ever taken seriously. That is, until the FBI come knocking… Soon, it becomes clear that no one in the Naturals program is what they seem. And when a new killer strikes, danger looms close. Caught in a lethal game of cat and mouse with a killer, the Naturals are going to have to use all of their gifts just to survive.
I went into The Naturals with the expectation that it would be an easy, fun time and for the most part I was correct. The characters are somewhat underdeveloped, but the plot is fast paced and we did see the bricks being lain for their personalities and backstories throughout. Some more subtly than others, but then again our main girl Cassie is not what you would call subtle.
As a main character I didn’t mind her and I think she reacted well to the situations that were thrown her way. Her dynamic with the other naturals were mostly tenuous, but I’m excited to see where they go and to watch them all grow closer.
The plot itself was fine. It was nothing original and there were a few moments that felt obvious in that they were meant to try to throw you off the scent. The actual reveal was done in an exciting way, so it lessened the impact of it being kind of obvious.
I think another layer of my enjoyment came from this being somewhat similar to the first book in the Darkest Powers trilogy by Kelley Armstrong. In that book they are a group of teenagers with supernatural powers, rather than powers of observation garnered through childhood traumas. The character archetypes are quite similar and I’m hoping the romance goes in the same direction too.
mysterious?: 👤👤
Overall, I didn’t select an overly mysterious set of books. The Last Tale of the Flower Bride definitely carried that caveat by itself. However, I had a great time reading an even split of 2024 releases from authors I’ve read and enjoyed before, as well as two new authors on my backlist
Thanks for reading!
I hope you’re having a lovely day and staying safe ♥
DramaRambles 🌸 
The best
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