Jess.Reads24

A Brief, Fleeting, Almost Impossible Gift by Karaya Vega My rating: 4 of 5 stars That feeling when you are standing at the edge of the ocean at night, the dark that isn't empty, but full. Full of things you can't yet name, full of the ache of knowing something is ending. Maya's world is collapsing in slow motion. A new home in Hawaii that should have been a beginning becomes the backdrop for one thing she can't outrun. Her time is running out. This was laced with intimacy, letting you read the thoughts she would never say out loud. What gutted me is how the book sits in the in between. The space where grief and beauty blur. Where you are still alive, but grieving the version of yourself you will never get to become. Vega doesn't rush the story. She lets the moments breathe, the suns set, the fear sits. It's tender, haunting, and the kind of story that reminds you how fragile each day is. How miraculous it is to love anything a...

A Name for the Dead: A Psychological Thriller About a Hidden Child and a Family Built on Lies by Francis Palumbi My rating: 5 of 5 stars The SUSPENSE of this book nearly took me out! There was a sound in my house, Salem (my cat) came sprinting towards me, and I THREW the book. That's the level of tension we're dealing with. A Name For The Dead had me on edge. It's raw. It's unsettling. It's captivating. You can feel something lurking beneath the surface; something the Whitaker family is desperate to keep buried. This is a story built on rules and control. You can't do this.. You aren't allowed there... We don't talk about that... Laura runs her home like a workplace, and her family like employees expected to fall in line. No questions. No pushback. No cracks in the perfect image. That is, until Olena arrives... she starts to notice the gaps, the holes in the carefully constructed lies. To say I was shook would be an un...

What The Reed Hid by G.M. Draevyn My rating: 5 of 5 stars G.M. Draevyn will completely unravel you with this one. I closed the book feeling haunted, like i'd just been through something... lived through something, I was unprepared for. What The Reed Hid will destroy you in the very best way. It was feral, fast paced, devastating, dark, and twisted. She navigates fear, lust, sadness, anger, and everything in between in such a graceful way. What they feel, you feel, bleeding alongside them. I came to a point where I thought I'd figured out what was coming, I prepared myself, I knew what was next... which is right about the time Draevyn rips the floor out from under you. I sat there, staring at the page, going back to re-read, contemplating how this could have happened and how I didn't see it coming. The shift from dark romance, to suspense, to full blown psychological thriller is seamless. It's like when a storm comes in slowly, quietly, then...

Psycho Path by Prerna Wadhawan My rating: 5 of 5 stars Sometimes.. the most dangerous mind in the room isn't the one of the killer... it's the one studying him. Ahhhh Psycho Path. :) The kind of thriller that doesn't simply ask what makes a killer, but also, what makes us believe one. The story centers around a clinical expert whose career has been built surrounding an idea. One controversial idea. The idea? That psychopaths aren't broken, but evolved. She's asked to evaluate a serial killer with a deeply, disturbingly, devoted teenage following. The story slowly, and unnervingly, descents into a space where science, manipulation, and buried trauma combine. What unfolds was like an intellectual cat & mouse game between Niya and Robin. The sessions felt much like a duel. A duel fought with razor sharp logic and psychological pressure. He is looking for her to validate him. She wants objectivity. However, the more he reveals, the more ...

Strange Familiars by Keshe Chow My rating: 5 of 5 stars Strange Familiars drops you into a dark academia terrarium. It's humid with magic, buzzing with tension, and full of creatures who are enchanting, and yet, a little bit feral. Gwendolynne is a focused magical veterinary student whose built her life on being the best. That is until, her rival becomes impossible to ignore. This story blends whimsy and uneasy, leaving a pulse of danger underneath. Unstable magic ripples through town, familiars go a bit wild, and the institutions meant to protect, feel compromised. The delicious tension, cozy fantasy vibes, wrapped around something darker, stranger, and more urgent. The banter feels like people who've spent years pretending they don't care, only to find, they care too much. The familiars add so much heart. Gwen's cat familiar steals the scenes with dry humor and chaotic vibes. This book had a romantasy with teeth feeling; it was equa...

The Dead Woods by Ellie Welsh My rating: 4 of 5 stars When she escape to a quiet cabin to outrun grief, but the silence doesn't stay quiet for long. The woods start whispering, beginning with sounds she can't explain, then dread comes to settle in before the rest of her could catch up. Ellie Welsh drops you into a world where silence isn't comforting, the woods feel alive, and survival requires as much emotional resilience as it does physical. She worked hard to hold herself together in a world falling apart around her. The isolation feels raw, real, and tense. The woods are like a moody, watchful character in the story. They leave you with a feeling something is always just beyond the trees. This post-apocalyptic story provides a touch of human connection, found survival, and the creeping sense that things might be getting worse. The stage has absolutely been set for something big in book 2. A HUGE thank you to Ellie Welsh for allowing me the ...

Forget me not by Charlotte Gaspar My rating: 5 of 5 stars There are books that feel like they’re whispering to you from the very first page.. soft, aching, and full of things left unsaid. Forget Me Not is absolutely one of them. Charlotte Gaspar writes with this quiet emotional precision. It sneaks up on you. It’s the kind that makes you pause, breathe, and sit with the weight of a m moment before turning the page. This story is about memory; the ones we cling to, the ones we’ve lost, and those we wish we could rewrite. The story captures that fragile space between love and grief so beautifully. The characters feel imperfect, lived in, and deeply human. The emotional tension comes from the slow, unraveling of what it means to hold on to something that’s slipping away.  The writing has this soft melancholy feel, like walking through a familiar place and realizing it’s changed in ways you can’t quite list. It’s tender, without being sentimental; heartbrea...

Nightmare on Nightmare Street by R.L. Stine My rating: 4 of 5 stars Ahhhhh, this was fast, creepy, a little unhinged, and absolutely designed to make you glance over your shoulder while you read. It has that nostalgic, after school horror feel. The kind where the danger is real, but the fun is too. It’s eerie without being overwhelming, and the tension builds in those classic Stine ways. It leans into that uncanny, slightly campy horror that he does best, the kind that makes you grin even as you’re unsettled. If you grew up on Goosebumps like I did, this is a vibe. Spooky, quick, and delightfully weird. ARC received from NetGalley. This is my honest opinion. View all my reviews

Critics' Requiem by Michaela Riley My rating: 5 of 5 stars This book swallowed me whole. Michaela Riley writes pain, isolation, and buried trauma with such sharp clarity that I felt every fracture right alongside him. There’s a heaviness to this story; a quiet, aching isolation; that settles into your chest and refuses to leave. I was devastated for him. Completely immersed in his grief, convinced I understood where his story was heading. I thought I had a grip on the truth. I didn’t. I know nothing. Because when the turn comes? It doesn’t just surprise you… it detonates. It’s the kind of twist that knocks the air out of your lungs and forces you to rethink every page you just read. I sat there stunned, replaying scenes in my head, realizing how brilliantly it was all woven together. Beautifully written, emotionally brutal, and impossible to put down. Thank you to Michaela Riley for allowing me the honor of reading an ARC copy. This review is my hones...

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book feels like being trapped inside a fogged‑up mirror; you can see shapes, but nothing is fully clear. Ruth Ware leans into the unraveling mind of Lo in a way that makes you question every detail right alongside her. The luxury cruise setting is glossy on the surface, but the tension underneath never stops humming. If you love thrillers that make you feel watched, this one delivers. View all my reviews

This is one of this stories that feels like it exists in its own, quiet, suspended world. This was soft, devastating, and strangely peaceful all at once. From the very first page, you are wrapped in this stillness, like time has slowed down just enough for you to feel every emotion with a sharp edge. The grief, love, and memory all tangled together makes you feel like you’re floating alongside Mia, watching her life unfold in fragments. What always strikes me about this story is the intimacy. You aren’t just reading about her family, her music, her relationships, you’re inside them. The flashbacks are warm, tender, and almost glowing. The contrast against the cold reality of the present hits hard. It’s the kind of emotional whiplash that sneaks up on you, not because the book is loud, or dramatic, but because it’s honest in a way that hurts. There’s a quiet bravery in the way Mia moves through this in between space, holding in her memories like lifelines while trying to understa...

This was such a fun, addictive read! The format pulled me in almost immediately. The entire story told through therapy notes, sessions logs, and the inner thoughts of a therapist trying to make sense of the patients sitting across from him. It felt like I was slipping into someone’s private files, creeping around the back of the office, getting to overhear everything I wasn’t supposed to hear. There is something so unique about the way this was written. You’re not just reading a story; you’re inside the therapist’s mind, watching him analyze, question, and second guess every interaction, and every patient. It creates this tension that makes you feel like you’re right in the room, observing the expressions, the pauses, the things left unsaid. It’s intimate and eerie in the very best way. The pacing is fast, sharp, and the structure makes it impossible not to keep turning pages. Each entry feels like a little puzzle piece bringing you closer to the truth. The more you read,...

I first read The Giver as a kid, and I remember being absolutely in awe, and honestly a little shaken by the idea that a society could live this way. The sameness, the control, the quiet erasing of anything that made life messy or meaningful… it felt impossible to imagine. What stunned me most back then was that so many people in the story didn’t even know what they were missing. That idea stuck with me for years. Coming back to it now, with more life behind me, the story hits in a completely different way. The things that felt strange and almost fantastical as a child now feel heavier, more symbolic, more heartbreaking. The grief, the beauty, the cost of comfort.. all of it lands deeper. Jonas’s awakening feels so much more emotional when you understand what it means to carry memories, to feel deeply, to question the world you’ve always been told is “right.” The writing is simple in the best way; quiet, intentional, and full of meaning between the lines. It’s the kind of...

This book hooked me from the first chapter and never loosened its grip. It’s sharp, tense, and unsettling. The kind of story that keeps your pulse up even when nothing overtly dramatic is happening on the page. There’s this constant hum of dread running underneath everything, and I found myself sinking into it without even realizing how tightly it was pulling me in. What surprised me most wasn’t the twisty plot (though it’s brilliant), but the way the story balances intensity with character. Eddie Flynn feels so grounded and human; flawed, clever, trying to do the right thing in a world that keeps shifting under his feet. And then there’s the killer’s perspective… cold, calculated, terrifying in that quiet, methodical way that gets under your skin. It’s not gore or shock value; it’s the psychology of it that lingers. The courtroom scenes are electric. They’re fast, smart, and somehow manage to feel both cinematic and intimate. I love when a thriller makes me feel like I’m right ...

ARC from BookSirens This is one of those stories that creeps up on you. It’s quiet at first, then steadily tightens its grip until you realize you’ve been holding your breath. Mike Lemieux builds a world that feels both familiar, and yet, deeply unsettling. The kind of space where every shadow seems to have a secret, every character carries more than they’re willing to speak of. This story follows a man returning to a town that never really let go of him. As he reconnects with old memories, buried truths, and the prior town, the surroundings grow heavier, stranger, and more claustrophobic. This book leans into psychological rather than outright horror, creating dread of knowing something is wrong, before you can say what that something is. It was vivid, moody, and layered with emotions. The blend of mystery, grief, and darkness brings you in, in a way that feels grounded, yet haunting. This story brings you in to the suspense slowly, letting the tension rise. If you enjoy...

This book is haunting, beautiful, and absolutely devastating in the best way. It pulled me in immediately and refused to let go, wrapping itself around me with its mix of grief, hope, and quiet resilience. There’s a softness to the pain in these pages, the kind that doesn’t overwhelm you, but settles into your chest and stays there, reminding you of everything you’ve lost and everything you’re still holding onto. The storytelling is so immersive that I kept catching myself sinking deeper and deeper into it without even realizing. Every chapter feels intentional, threaded with emotion that never once feels forced. It’s the kind of book that doesn’t just tell a story; it lives in you for a while, reshaping the way you think about love, loss, and the small ways people keep going even when it feels impossible. I first read this book in high school, and even then it left an imprint I couldn’t quite explain. Recently, I picked it up again because I wanted to understand why it had sta...

How to Survive a Horror Story takes the classic escape room idea and turns it into something far more unsettling and clever. From the moment the characters arrive, there’s this creeping sense that nothing about the experience is what it seems and the people participating might be just as unsettling as whatever is waiting inside the house. One of the things that made this book stand out for me was the characters. Instead of the usual group of strangers thrown together, the story centers on authors who all have their own complicated histories, insecurities, and questionable reasons for being there. That choice adds an interesting layer of tension, because you’re constantly wondering what else might be going on. The atmosphere is exactly what you want, it's eerie, claustrophobic, and full of little details that make you second guess everything. The pacing keeps you moving, but it also gives you enough time to sit with the characters and feel the unease building. It’s fu...

First of all - THANK YOU to Daya Winters & Iris Influencer Society for the privilege to read this ARC. WOW! I am quite literally in awe! Smother grabbed me by the throat from page one and didn’t let go until the very last twist on the very last page. I read this entire story in a single day because I physically could not look away. I started with intentions to read a few chapters this morning, and ended by blocking out everything and everyone to read all day and suddenly I was at the end wondering what on earth just happened. This book put me through every emotion imaginable. I was stressed, mad, upset, emotional, shook, spooked, and thrilled in the very best ways. The suspense is relentless, the tension is sharp, and the emotional highs and lows are so intense you feel them in your chest. I can’t even count the amount of times I said “WHAT?!?!” and “OMG” out loud throughout. From the beginning, I needed to know everything, about everyone, and I needed to know it imm...

I ordered Hello, Transcriber on a whim. I stumbled across a post from Hannah Morrissey where she noted that the story was inspired by real events from her time working as a police transcriber. That alone had me curious enough to look further, the book’s summary sealed the deal. I’m so glad I followed that instinct. This is one of those atmospheric, quietly intense thrillers that pulls you in through mood as much as mystery. Morrissey’s writing style is sharp, immersive, and beautifully moody. She captures the feeling of being on the outside looking in, listening to other people’s darkest moments, while also trying to make sense of your own life in the process. What really stood out to me was how naturally she navigates the story. The pacing feels deliberate in the best way, and the blend of crime, character introspection, and small town grit creates a world that’s easy to sink into. It’s not just about the work, it’s about the emotional weight of hearing the truth secondhand, an...

This book is the definition of a fast, twisty psychological thriller. It’s the kind you pick up “just to start” and suddenly you’re halfway through, ignoring everything else because you have to know what’s really going on. What I loved most is how Freida layers tension. Every chapter feels like a little trapdoor opening beneath you. The atmosphere inside the psychiatric ward is claustrophobic in the best way, and the sense that something is off never lets up. I kept trying to piece things together, thinking I was so clever, and then she’d throw another twist that made me question everything all over again. Freida balances dark, unsettling moments with that signature readability that makes her books impossible to put down. Even when the plot gets wild, she keeps it grounded enough that you’re fully invested in the characters and their unraveling. If you love thrillers that play mind games, keep you guessing, and deliver those “wait… WHAT?” moments, Ward D is such a fun rid...