coffeeand-crime

[coffeeand-crime]

Review of Lying in the Deep by Diana Urban

First, a quick summary: (spoilers ahead!)

Jade, a student at Stanford, goes on a semester at sea. Little did she know that her ex-boyfriend, Silas, and ex-best friend, Lainey, were there as well, as a couple. Silas ghosted her previously, saying he was with Lainey and it broke Jade's heart.

She quickly befriends her twin roommates, Navya and Divya. There is also roommates Tate and Miguel, Lainey's ex-high school best friend Sheffia (who are seemingly on good terms again) and Felix, who Jade becomes romantically involved with after attempting to make Silas jealous. The book makes it awfully clear that someone has a motive to kill Lainey and soon after, her room is covered in blood and her whereabouts are unknown. Jade looks like the prime suspect, along with Silas. Silas makes it clear that things ended with Jade the same way she thought, and Lainey must've pretended that both were ghosted. He still has feelings towards Silas. Later, Tate is found dead in an apparent suicide, but the bruises on his neck say otherwise. Jade and Felix go on a hunt to find who the possible killer is. On the same day, Sheffia is found dead in the pool, looks like she fell and drowned.

For the first time in a couple of weeks, Jade finally steps foot in Felix's room. But she realizes that he was lying about his roommate and was not with her at the time of Tate and Sheffia's deaths, believing that he killed them. Then, turns out Lainey is alive, completely made over. She faked her death to get away from her father, the owner (or CEO?) of Sanatek, a pharmaceutical company that clearly has no morals, and was hiding in Felix's room. They are secretly cousins. Turns out, Silas killed Tate in a rage and killed Sheffia as well, as she knew Silas was guilty, ran towards the pool, hit her head unconscious, and Silas shoved her in the pool, making her drown. Turns out Sheffia was just there to babysit Lainey for her dad. Later, Lainey's father makes an appearance as Silas is arrested because he shoots and kills him.

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Firstly, I liked the plot. The idea of the main character being stranded on a boat, with deaths happening, grudges being held, and also being the main suspect, was good. It was suspenseful and good until the ending.

I think it may be just me, but I found that the reveal of Lainey being alive and Silas being the murderer a let down. Props to the author, I was gullible enough to believe that all of the characters were guilty. Hell, I thought that Jade was a manic who killed Lainey cause she was crazy. I think that Lainey being dead would've been more interesting, but would've left plot holes. Also, I was actually rooting for Silas and Jade over Felix and Jade. I wish Felix ended up being the crazy person, and maybe Navya/Divya (or both!) had a hand in the murders. I thought Sheffia would've been to obvious, and I'm sad she died. She deserved better.

Something that made me upset was when Jade thought Felix was a murderer, she didn't bother to make a run for it. She just kept talking to Lainey, while in the same room as a possible murderer. Ugh, it was so infuriating! Like girl, you think he killed Tate and Sheffia, so you are going to continue being in the same quarters as him?

Another thing that pissed me off was Jade in general. I get that she's not like other girls. She doesn't do make up often or care about how she looks. She is not as "pretty" as her ex-best friend and is an underdog. Boring! The way she was trying so hard to prove she was innocent was crazy. I mean, she almost lit a fire. She was just trying too hard, even though she was under crazy circumstances.

One last thing - I can't believe that most of the book happened in one day. I was surprised to find out that all 3 (or 2) were discovered dead in a day, not including night (I believe). Lainey's room was discovered bloody in the morning. I guess they were running around, and in the afternoon, I assume, Jade and Felix discover Tate. In the evening (again, I presume), Sheffia is found dead by the twins and Jade confronts Felix, Lainey, and Silas afterwards. I don't believe this timeline one bit, but I am pretty sure the book mentions that it is in the same day. I mean, what are the odds???

I rate this book a 7.5/10, I really expected better for the ending but otherwise, it was pretty good! Turns out I'm just bad at predicting murderers.

[coffeeand-crime]

Review of The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Spoiler alert for the first book of the series ahead

I would rate it...7/10

P.S. I don't read much and I tend to read things in black and white. Forgive me if I am wrong about anything I write.

First of all, I finished this book in less than 4 days. It was very intriguing to me and hard to put down. I think this was mainly because I was confused. I had no idea what was happening with the games, but it was also interesting at the same time.

I appreciated the short chapters. The characters were something else, though. I didn't feel that Avery had much of a personality or development, along with most of the other characters. She was just clever and smart. Also, formerly living in her car, which I thought should've been touched on more???

The book mainly focused on the games and the backstory of the brothers. Speaking of the backstory, I would've appreciated more insight to Emily Laughlin. Before Avery, she gets Jameson and Grayson to fall in love with her and compete against each other for her. And then she just drops dead. The fact that Avery had a little something with the same brothers is weird. Not to mention it was like a year past her death??? Sure, there can be a little love triangle, there always is with these types of books, but to make it a repeat of the past, especially since the past girl is dead and probably could've been prevented by the actions of the two LIs...yeah (and Xander and Avery are probably cuter!). I didn't like that there was something going on. I also want to add that the kiss between Avery and Jameson was out of the blue for me. Yes, it mentions that Avery thought about him but to kiss him? In his dead girlfriend's bathroom?

Focusing back on the actual game, I was so confused. I expected Xander to be involved, but thought that it would've been more fun if Libby or Nash were as well. Speaking of which, Nash's relationships with Alisa and his staff were not addressed as much as I would've hoped for. And what was his thing with Libby? Why was this not explained? I get that there is a second book, but still...so many open plot holes for the sequels that it wasn't that satisfying of an ending.

Thea, Heather, and the rest of the people living there were also barely addressed, and their suspicious behaviour as well. And why did Avery keep getting things right? Did she not have any academic work to do at her new high-end school?

Last but not least, Avery's connection to Tobias Hawthorne was very underwhelming. I'm glad it wasn't something boring, like she was related (cause I think that would've been incest). I know that it is most likely uncovered in the preceding books, but again, this is why it is not a higher rating. Many things are left unsaid or open because of most likely, future plots. Either way, what do you mean she was a "random" girl that he met at some diner and decided to stalk her until he died? Obviously, she has a connection with Harry/Tobias the II.

I know I did a lot of complaining, but I still enjoyed the book. I can't wait to read the second one (hurry up, library!) and the third one as well. And is this really going to be turned into a tv show/movie? I hope!