Greetings Friends,
Continuing on with my end of year review, it’s time to look at the most SURPRISING books of 2017. These are the books that I went into with very little expectation, but ended up being pleasantly surprised!
In no particular order, here are my selections:
Big Little Lies
This was my book club’s first pick for the year. We had read Moriarty’s The Hypnotist’s Love Story last year as our inaugural read and really liked it. Plus the show was going to premiere on HBO and we had wanted to have a watch party. This one was exactly as Stephen King blurbs on the cover, “a hell of a good book.” The book and show are really great in their own merits, but the book obviously offers much more character development, including the child characters who you ultimately feel are just as relatable as the adults. Definitely highly recommended and made me a huge fan of Liane Moriarty!
This was another book club selection where the synopsis drew me in immediately. It was so hard putting this one down and the ending was classic for lovers of psychological thrillers. Kimberly Belle is now an instabuy author as one of her previous books, The Ones We Trust, was a favorite for the year.
I signed up to review this book earlier in the year as part of a blog tour and had accidentally thought it was a cozy mystery. When it arrived and I realized it was actually a light romance, I wasn’t sure what to think. This ultimately turned into sweet, light read that I truly enjoyed. I went on to purchase the previous books in the series and have been working my way through them ever since. You can check out my full review for more.
Dead Cold
This was another one that I signed up to review as part of a blog tour. The synopsis sounded fantastic and right up my alley. Additionally, I was on the hunt for another thriller series like the Reilly Steel series and I was crossing my fingers that this would be it. While this was the sixth book in the series, I never felt disconnected from the characters and absolutely LOVED this book. You can check out my full review for more. I am going to start from the beginning with the hope that it holds up in comparison to this one.
A Stranger in the House
Last year, I read and reviewed Shari Lapena’s debut, The Couple Next Door, which you can check out HERE for more. While I liked it, it was definitely one of those cases where I got the sense that her talent was undeniable and that it would only get better as she wrote more. This book proved my point. Some people find it a miss, but I was pleasantly surprised and definitely recommend this for fans of suspense, mystery, and psychological thrillers. I’m working on my review for this book, so stay tuned!
So those are the books that surprised me this year. Did you read any that surprised you? Let me know in the comments!
That's What She's Reading 