#natalie d richards

[snowshell]

➳ My 2023 reads ⋆˚

ˏˋ Five Total Strangers by Natalie D. Richards ˊˎ "A dozen snowflakes hit the road and all common sense pours directly out of drivers’ brains. Half of the people drive fifteen miles an hour and the other half weave in and out of lanes doing seventy-five."

[paperback-bitch]

Review: Seven Dirty Secrets

By Natalie D. Richards Hardback: $n/a – Paperback: $10.99 – E-book: $6.92 Approx. 362 pages / Audiobook n/a YA Thriller

SYNOPSIS

I know seven dirty secrets: One caused the fall. One did nothing. One saw it all. One didn't care. One used their head. One played the hero.

One was left for dead.

On her eighteenth birthday, Cleo receives a mysterious invitation to a scavenger hunt. She's sure her best friend Hope or her brother Connor is behind it, but no one confesses. And as Cleo and Hope embark on the hunt, the seemingly random locations and clues begin to feel familiar.

In fact, all of the clues seem to be about Cleo's dead boyfriend, Declan, who drowned on a group rafting trip exactly a year ago. A bracelet she bought him. A song he loved. A photo of the rafting group, taken just before Declan drowned. And then the phone calls start, Declan's voice taunting Cleo with a cryptic question: You ready?

As the clock on the scavenger hunt ticks down, it becomes clear that someone knows what really happened to Declan. And that person will stop at nothing to make sure Cleo and her friends pay. Can they solve the hunt before someone else winds up dead?

Themes: Coping with Loss, Guilt and Grief, Addiction, Domestic Abuse

Tropes: Dead Significant Other, Victim Blames Themselves, Scavenger Hunt Plotline, We Can’t Talk it out Because Then There’s no Plot, Twist Villain, Negligent Parents

Warnings: Death by drowning, accidental or otherwise. Substance abuse and physical abuse.

REVIEW

I have interesting feelings about this one. Was it a fun read? It took a while to hook me, but then I noticed myself kinda burning through it. Then again, I may have just been trying to finish it. Do I think it was a good book? It’s not a bad book. It’s not my favorite Natalie Richards book. But is it a good book? …Kinda?

As far as plots go, this one is simple. Someone died, and someone is blackmailing the survivors with revealing “the truth” if they don’t participate in the scavenger hunt. The issue here is that “the truth” is a simple matter of self-defense that resulted in an accidental death. No cop is going to convict the victim in this situation, so there’s really no reason the characters couldn’t just report all this harassment to the police other than plot armor. Their flimsy in-book reasons were “an investigation could lose me my scholarship” and “my brother is black, cops are racist” which, honestly, felt like convenient afterthoughts. The main character being poor and needing the scholarship and having a black half-brother were only touched on to be convenient to the plot, and we never really see it impacting any other aspects of the story.

One thing that disappointed me was the synopsis made it sound like this was going to be a group story, following the six survivors of the accident. In reality, it follows Cleo and her best friend Hope for the majority of the book, with Cleo’s brother Connor becoming more involved about halfway through. We barely see Valerie or her brother Aiden, apart from maybe two or three scenes, and Jack is so irrelevant to 95% of the plot that I almost forgot he was involved at all. Again, he was in two scenes even more briefly than the siblings.

As far as the domestic abuse elements, I was uncomfortable for several reasons there. Typically, people stay in abusive relationships because they still love the person when they’re being treated well. They make excuses, find reasons to overlook their flaws and mistreatment, because “they aren’t always like that” and they have other qualities the person loves. It’s unhealthy, but understandable. In this scenario, I couldn’t understand the victim’s perspective, because the abuser was constantly depicted as being a total jerk and a douchebag at best, often behaving much worse behind closed doors. We never saw any redeeming qualities that would incite the victim to stay with the abuser. And even worse, the victim spends the entire book blaming themself for the abuser’s death.

I don’t like getting too spoilery; I prefer to review how I felt and how the book performed and let people decide if they want to read it. But I kind of can’t avoid it in this one, since one of the tropes is the twist villain. So, if you don’t want to know “who dunnit” (and why) then don’t open the spoiler!!

Spoiler: I thought the twist was weak. Cleo’s perfect boyfriend Bennett is the mastermind, because Declan was the older brother he idolized, but didn’t get to spend time with after they grew up because Declan’s family disowned him for his addiction and violent behaviors. Bennett heard all about how “awful” Cleo was through Declan’s one-sided stories making himself the villain, so when Aiden came to Bennett and told him that he saw Cleo push Declan into the river (you know, when he was trying to choke her to death, and she was fighting for her life?) Bennett decided to infiltrate her life to torment and eventually kill her for what she did. It is just so utterly ridiculous that this was his plan, not to mention that Cleo met his Grandmother and somehow never knew Declan was his older brother? Never saw how similar they looked until the last chapter?? Also, his name is Shawn, not Bennett, and somehow Granny didn’t think it was weird Cleo kept calling him the wrong name? I personally felt that Aiden being the real mastermind would have been more sensible, since we kept hearing how he idolized Declan and maybe even loved him.

Overall, this book moved slow at the start and became more far-fetched as we continued, ultimately resulting in a conclusion that just felt…strained. It was a happy ending, but at the same time it felt…forced? The whole thing felt like it could have been resolved with a nice therapy session and a call to the police, but then we wouldn't have a novel I suppose.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it. It wasn’t bad, it was just kind of forgettable in the end, and the whole story felt like an excuse to have a big scavenger hunt. I think that plot element could have fit better into a different story, because in this one it just felt awkward. I’d call it a 3 star read to be generous.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Fans of Karen McManus will probably like this one since Natalie Richards has a similar vibe to her storytelling. If you like other Natalie Richards books, this one is pretty middling compared to her other works, in my opinion, and I’d actually suggest you read Five Perfect Strangers or Six Months Later instead.

[gardenofbookworms]

week 4 recommendation: bee

Five Total Strangers by Natalie D. Richards

▪︎ mystery/thriller novel ▪︎

there’s a reason why you never get into cars with people you don’t know.

mira’s mother is doing horribly, mira thinks, and so how could she leave her poor mother alone? there’s nothing to do but get home as quickly as she possibly can. the only way to do that, though, is to hitch a ride with harper, her airplane seatmate and bubbly college student. two more people later, mira learns that all of them are complete strangers. harper’s big sister act is a little stifling. brecken’s sly looks and violent aura put mira on edge. josh seems nice enough, but a little too perfect. and then there’s kayla, who’s either chronically ill or chronically high. ignoring the bad feeling in her gut, mira readies herself for the eight-hour trip with four other people who all seem to be toying with the others for their entertainment. a few paranoia-inducing events and a pileup later, she realizes—someone here doesn't want her to leave.

▪︎

there are. SOOOO many red herrings oh gosh. the paranoia that the characters have regarding each other makes everything a thousand times more tense, and keeping track of all their accusations and clues was nearly impossible when new events seem to point the blame on someone different. i couldn't keep my “YOU did it” thoughts stuck to one character for more than two chapters. the complexity of their backstories was interesting as well—i can say i really loved the controversy surrounding kayla (she’s my favorite, shhh). plus, richards really knows how to make losing a phone charger, ironically, tragic.

[alley-cat777]

Book Review: Seven Dirty Secrets by: Natalie D. Richards

Seven went in. Six came out. And now it’s been a year. Seven Dirty Secrets by Natalie D. Richards Initial Thoughts: 2022 was the year that I ended up reading a bunch of books written by Natalie D. Richards. It first began with Five Total Strangers, which I loved so much. I read One Was Lost shortly after and then Six Months Later. By the time I got to Seven Dirty Secrets, I was less impressed…

[myhikari21things]

Read of Five Total Strangers by Natalie D. Richards (2020) (299pgs)

[little-miss-romance]

The doors swing wide open. Just like my future.

[ninugh29]

I love reading 2000s/2010s niche YA books about teen girls in high school like it’s simply my favorite thing ever (Gallagher girls series by Ally Carter, Also Known As by Robin Benway, The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes). I’m currently reading All-American Girl by Meg Cabot and the only thing I hate about reading these books (besides the not-like-other-girls-ism and occasional misogyny that exposes them as very clearly a product of their time) is how little to non existent the fandoms for them are. Like, I get they’re aimed at younger people but I can’t be the only one reading them right now 😭.

(I also hate how when someone asks what I read and I say one of these I get made fun of? Like sorry we don’t all enjoy reading wuthering heights every second of the day and enjoy fun lighthearted literature every once in a while. Have you tried removing that stick from your ass and having fun?)

[owlbookworld]

Four Found Dead by Natalie D. Richards [book review]

Another YA thriller bights the dust. I wish there was little bit more to this story but overall I enjoyed it.

Book: Four Found Dead By: Natalie D. Richards Published: May 2, 2023 Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire Pages: 332 Genre: YA Thriller Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. What this means is that if you purchase anything through the links I have provided for you then I will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Please consider supporting my blog. Continue reading Four…

[reviewsbywolfie]

After I had my fair share with Holly Jackson, I decided to try someone new. Natalie D. Richards.

Now I thought this was going to be an interrogation story. Like the characters will tell each side of the story and get a perspective on each of their points throughout the story itself. And again, I was wrong.

This takes place inside of a dark movie theater. It's past midnight and the coworkers wanna leave but they can't. Cause their boss is crazy and put all of their phones in a safe in his office.

As if it couldn't get any worse, all the doors in the mall are locked. The theater is in a mall btw in case you were confused. And to make matters worse, one by one they keep dying. So they’re trapped in a mall, with no power, no phones, and they’re trapped with a SERIAL KILLER!!! Yeah, so not fun.

Natalie really brings out the suspense in this book. It's like one of the horror movies I love to watch with my sister. Anyway, Natalie gives us all the details of each characters, what their role is, and how each of them are important. And she gives us the reason why some of them died as well.

As the story goes on, you can't help but wonder, is your favorite character gonna die next?

I totally recommend this book. Especially if you're reading in the dark. That's all for now, stay on track and stay in the pack 🐺

[roesolo]

YA suspense: Four Found Dead

YA suspense: Four Found Dead @SourcebooksFire

Four Found Dead, by Natalie D. Richards, (May 2023, Sourcebooks Fire), $11.99, ISBN: 9781728215815 Ages 14+ Jo and her friends are finishing up their last shift at the Tempest, the last store in a shuttered mall that’s closing for good. But at closing time, the doors are locked and their phones are locked in the safe; their manager, Clayton, won’t allow anyone to have them while on shift. The…

[tailschannel]

IDW unveils two new Sonic the Hedgehog one-shot issues, 900th Adventure and Endless Summer

Take a look at these new Sonic the Hedgehog one-shot issues from IDW Publishing, scheduled for a summer release.

900th Adventure

This issue, tentatively scheduled for 16 August, will feature various writers and illustrators as the blue blur goes on his "900th world-saving adventure!"

Sonic and his friends are playing a game of hot potato! Only the potato is the Warp Topaz and it could warp the whole world into oblivion. The gang is passing off the Warp Topaz in a relay race to get rid of it once and for all.

Cover A: Tracy Yardley

Cover B: Yuji Uekawa of SEGA Japan

Cover C: Evan Stanley

Cover D: Adam Bryce Thomas

Retailer incentive cover 1:10: Nathalie Fourdraine

Retailer incentive cover 1:25: Richard Elson

Retailer incentive cover 1:50: Jonathan Gray

Endless Summer

"Wave goodbye to the office and say hello to the beach," read the official solicitation. This issue is scheduled for a 30 August tentative release.

Sonic drags Jewel on a well-deserved beach day to spend time with her besties, Tangle and Whisper! But when they all settle in for some rest and relaxation…they realize the Babylon Rogues had the same idea… at the same beach. The only way to settle this is with a totally tubular beach showdown!

Writer: Gale Galligan

Illustrator: Tracy Yardley

Cover A: Tracy Yardley

Cover B: Jack Lawrence and Reggie Graham

Retailer incentive cover 1:10: Tracy Yardley (Monochrome "colouring book" variant of Cover A)

Retailer Incentive cover 1:25: Natalie Haines

[isabelleffe]

List of Pro-Palestinian Celebrities That I Have Been Working On

pro🍉 (❌ = problematic for unrelated reason, 🕊️= passed away)

reneé rapp

pedro pascal

bella ramsey

bella hadid

gigi hadid

dua lipa

melanie martinez❌(sa - “she didn’t say no” was response)

the weekend❌(misogyny - lesbian fetish)

towa bird

phoebe bridgers

lucy dacus

julien baker

beabadoobee

kehlani

hozier

melissa barreram

macklemore

cate blanchett

hari nef

julia fox❌(connections with kanye and drake)

mitski

SZA

nina lu

zendaya

victoria monét

rachel zegler

jenna ortega

clairo

chloe forero

miss rachel (toddler learning)

ariana grande❌(said her dream dinner date is jeffery dahmer)

ricky montgomery

angelina jolie

maisie peters

chani nicholas

nemahsis

chappell roan

frank ocean

ramy youssef

cardi b

halsey

eddy mack

saul williams

arooj aftab

michelle wolf

carice van houten

matt mcgorry

michael stipe

Jasmin Savoy Brown

Dame Vivienne Westwood

Neemz

amira jazeera

MUNA

Hedy Epstein

Hunter Schafer

Chance the Rapper

ishowspeed ❌ (treated his ex-girlfriend terribly)

Noname (rapper, poet, and producer)

shannon berry

nicola coughlan

bambie thug

zara larsson

AURORA

jonathan glazer

joaquin phoenix❌

lizzy mcalpine

coldplay (will champion, phil harvey, guy berryman, chris martin)

tyler the creator

björk

pink floyd (at least roger waters)

lauryn hill

chuck d

david bowie (loving the alien)🕊️

Malcom X🕊️

the strokes (Julian Casablancas, Albert Hammond Jr., Fabrizio Moretti, Nick Valensi, and Nikolai Fraiture)

earl sweatshirt

michael jackson (palestine, don't cry)🕊️

kid cudi

rage against the machine (zack de la rocha, tom morello, tim commerford, brad wilk)

lorde

FKA twigs

joji

ethel cain

Michael Jordan Bonema

lil peep🕊️

sean beam

liam cunningham

dianne guerrero

sean bean

tobias menzies

charles dance

carice van houten

emma d’arcy

madison pettis

lena heady

mxmtoon

joe alwyn

momona tamada

patrick spicer

mark ruffalo

halle bailey

chloe bailey

nicola coughlan

tom welling

kristen kreuk

rob delaney

kali uchis

louise xin (fashion designer)

isabela merced

joseph quinn

grace van dien

helana christensen

josh hutcherson

charli xcx

megan thee stallion (called for ceasefire at her concert 8/1/24, not sure if she talked about it before that because i only went to one concert)

hozier

not pro🍉 (“neutrality” = not pro 🍉, red text = signed letter for "israel")

taylor swift (no statement)

kanye west

oprah

dwayne johnson

lana del rey

selena gomez

rihanna (no statement)

adam sandler

lady gaga (performed in "israel")

beyoncé (no statement)

justin timberlake (performed in "israel")

noah schnapp

bon jovi (performed in "israel")

robbie williams (performed in "israel")

Brett Gelman

entirety of paramore (no statement)

chris pratt

justin bieber

hailey bieber

haley baylee (no statement)

natalie portman

madonna (performed in "israel")

kardashian family

Jenner family

jennifer lawrence

amy schumer

neil druckmann (admitted to "The Last of Us Part 2" being based on Israel's genocide against Gaza, except from a zionist's point of view)

bruno mars (performed in isnotreal)

mayim bialik

gal gadot

Jerry Seinfeld

Debra Messing

Bryan Lourd

Richard Lovett

Ryan Murphy

Zachery Levi

Sharon Osbourne

Tracey-Ann Oberman

George Lopez

Phil Rosenthal

Mekhi Phifer

Diane Warren

Haim Saban

Irving Azoff

Ynon Kreiz

Jody Gerson

Mark Hamill

Rick Yorn

Howie Mandel

Sherry Lansing

Rick Yorn

Tom Rothman

Julian Edelman

Antoine Fuqua

Jack Black

Aubrey Plaza

Tahj Mowry

Josh Peck

Ziggy Marley

Howie Mandel

Chris Pine

Billy Porter

Ben Savage

Jeremy Seinfeld

Bella Thorne

uncertain

billie eilish (wore ceasefire pin but doesn’t boycott - made videos for mtv israel)

laufey (connections to mitski- no statement)

hank green (historically hasn’t been pro🍉 but has donated recently)

olivia rodrigo (connections to Chappell roan - no statement)

dylan mulvaney (posted in support of palestine but has a few pro-israel friends & has partnered with pro-israel brands)

If you spot any typos, mistakes regarding celebrities listed, or have information about celebrities not listed, please either DM me or leave a comment on this post!!

As always, this blog stands with Palestine, Congo, and Sudan. PLEASE make sure to email your state representatives (if you live in the United States). If you do not know your representative (or how to contact them), you can use this website (which is the official U.S. House of Representatives website). My reposts on Tumblr are all about Isnotreal's genocide on Palestine (at least as of 6/16/2024). Make sure to amplify Palestinian voices and journalists as well (a list will be included below of some Palestinian journalists and groups/people supporting Palestine on Instagram).

@/wizard_bisan1

@/hindkhoudary

@/m.z.gaza

@/anat.international

@/palestine.academy

@/eye.on.palestine

@/ampalestine

@/byplestia

@/wael_eldahdouh

@/jenan.matari

@/thepcrt

@/blackforpalestine

@/jewishvoiceforpeace

@/palestinianyouthmovement

@/eid_yara

[thereadingchallengechallenge]

Read in May 2024

guess who's on a reading spree 🥰 I haven't had one of these for quite some time and it's feeling good since I spent half the month coughing and sneezing my guts up. my favourites of the month were probably The September House and The Summer Love Strategy, but I also really enjoyed revisiting some old favourites :3

here's to keeping up this energy in June!!!

Series read: The Girls I’ve Been duology by Tess Sharpe

The Girls I’ve Been - 5/5 (reread)

The Girl in Question - 4/5

Backlog books:

Seven Devils by Elizabeth May & LR Lam - 4/5

The Ghosts We Keep by Mason Deaver - 4/5 (audio)

Other reads:

You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron - 4/5 (audio)

Sasha Masha by Agnes Borinsky - 4/5 (audio)

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi - 3/5 (audio)

I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver - 5/5 (audio/reread)

Queerly Beloved by Susie Dumond - 2/5

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green - 5/5 (audio/reread)

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro - 3/5 (audio)

Feed Them Silence by Lee Mandelo - 4/5 (audio)

If These Wings Could Fly by Kyrie McCauley - 4/5 (audio)

Beating Heart Baby by Lio Min - 4/5 (audio)

The September House by Carissa Orlando - 5/5 (audio)

Four Found Dead by Natalie D Richards - 3/5 (audio)

Six Times We Almost Kissed by Tess Sharpe - 4/5 (audio)

The Summer Love Strategy by Ray Stoeve - 5/5

[fullmetalfisting]

Here is what I read in the month of September!

1. Love and Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe ⭐⭐⭐

2. The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton ⭐⭐⭐

3. Us in Ruins by Rachel Moore ⭐⭐

4. 49 Miles Alone by Natalie D. Richards ⭐⭐

5. A Family of Killers by Bryce Moore ⭐⭐⭐1/2 

6. Old Wounds by Logan-Ashley Kisner ⭐⭐⭐

7. To the Bone by Alena Bruzas ⭐⭐⭐

8. Red River Road by Anna Downes ⭐⭐⭐

9. The Lies We Conjure by Sarah Henning ⭐⭐

10. The Ornothologist’s Field Guide to Love by India Holton ⭐⭐⭐  

11. Look in the Mirror by Catherine Steadman ⭐⭐⭐ 

12. Guillotine by Delilah S. Dawson ⭐⭐⭐ 

[alley-cat777]

Book Review: Five Total Strangers by: Natalie D. Richards

Every flight has the same status. Cancelled. I can’t get home. The thought is a needle of panic to the base of my throat. It’s not possible. I have to get home. She needs me. She needs me to make her laugh and get her to watch trashy TV. I can distract her from the fact that Phoebe died on Christmas. But not if I’m not home. Five Total Strangers – Natalie D. Richards Initial Thoughts: I read…

[jessread-s]

hello I just wanted to ask if you have any good book recommendations that are thriller ,suspense and murder mystery for example the inheritance games or haunting adeline if you do know any books like these two please tell me thank you 😊.

Hello @lila-216 ! Thank you so much for your ask! 🫶📖✨🌷 I LOVE giving recommendations. If you need more individualized recommendations (ex: by trope) please let me know and I'd be happy to fulfill your request!

My favorite YA mystery/thriller books ₊˚ʚ 🔍₊˚✧ ﾟ.

The Naturals series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley

A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

The Truly Devious series by Maureen Johnson

The Stalking Jack the Ripper Series by Kerri Maniscalco

One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus

Six Months Later by Natalie D. Richards

My favorite Adult mystery/thriller books ₊˚ʚ 🔍₊˚✧ ﾟ.

The Alex Stern series by Leigh Bardugo

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

In the Woods by Tana French

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft

The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager

Locke Every Door by Riley Sager

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware