Oh. What. Fun. by Chandler Baker - 3 Stars

 "Tyler, Channing, and Sammy Clauster have descended on their childhood home, with significant others and four-year-old twins in tow, for another good old-fashioned Christmas. Overwhelming holiday magic, as always, comes courtesy of their mom, Claire. They know she’s thrilled to cook, wrap gifts, decorate, accommodate, play games, overprepare every Christmas Eve Eve Eve tradition, and still let Dad be known as the Fun One. It’s her thing, right? Maybe the family should have paid closer attention. Because this year, something is a little off-key—and it’s not just the carols."

This was a short story I found on Amazon and have to say I'm glad that I didn't buy it (it was included with my Prime membership). The idea of the book was kinda cute, but I felt that it was a little all over the place and the ending came and went before I even grasped what was happening. 

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig - 4 Stars

 "Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?

In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig's enchanting blockbuster novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place."

I was happy to find that this one was actually available through my library (there had previously been a huge waiting list). It was a thought provoking book of how your life could have been different if there were different choices made. The lives that Nora lived were all massively different depending on what choices she had made. It was fun to see what life would hold for Nora in another "book".

Every Last Word by Tamara Stone - 4 Stars

 Samantha is one of the popular girls in school, but she is hiding a secret from her friends. She has OCD and is consumed by thoughts that she can't turn off. Soon, Sam meets Caroline, who has a great sense of humor and is a breath of fresh air to Sam. Caroline introduces Sam to a group of misfits in the school that meet weekly and write poetry. Slowly, Sam starts to feel more "normal" around her new friends. But something threatens all of the progress that Sam has made and makes her really question her sanity.

I guess this is technically a YA book since Amazon says it's for 12-18 year olds, but it was a really good read. The book flowed well and there's a good twist at the end. I may have to see what else the author has written.

What Happens in Darkness by Laura McHugh - 3 Stars

 "Seventeen-year-old Sarabeth has become increasingly rebellious since her parents found God and moved their family to a remote Arkansas farmstead where she's forced to wear long dresses, follow strict rules, and grow her hair down to her waist. She's all but given up on escaping the farm when a masked man appears one stifling summer morning and snatches her out of the cornfield.

A week after her abduction, she's found alongside a highway in a bloodstained dress--alive--but her family treats her like she's tainted, and there's little hope of finding her captor, who kept Sarabeth blindfolded in the dark the entire time, never uttering a word. One good thing arises from the horrific ordeal: a chance to leave the Ozarks and start a new life.

Five years later, Sarabeth is struggling to keep her past buried when investigator Nick Farrow calls. Convinced that her case is connected to the strikingly similar disappearance of another young girl, Farrow wants Sarabeth's help, and he'll do whatever it takes to get it, even if that means dragging her back to the last place she wants to go--the hills and hollers of home, to face her estranged family and all her darkest fears."

The synopsis of this one sounded a lot better than it really was. The book switches back to young Sarabeth and the present day Sarabeth, who now is only known as Sarah. The first half was decent, but then I felt it was starting to lag and the ending wasn't as explosive or shocking as I thought it would be. 

Turkey Trot Murder by Leslie Meier - 2 Stars

 Lucy is out for a run one morning when she finds the body of Alison Franklin dead in the local pond. Rumored to be a result of drug use, Lucy feels there is something else going on. When her father, Ed is found murdered in his SUV, Lucy feels even more certain that something is going on and it may have to do with the new Mexican fusion restaurant that is being brought to the small town. 

So this was supposed to be a cozy mystery, but I found it more of a racist political book. There was so much talk about majority of the town hating the thought of a Hispanic moving to town and opening a restaurant. It certainly wasn't the cozy feeling that I was expecting it to be. I don't think I'll be reading any others in her series.  

#Murdertrending by Gretchen McNeil - 4 Stars

 In the near future, citizens can watch the executions of the country's worst criminals through an app devised by someone only known as The Postman. The prisoners are held on what is called Alcatraz 2.0. 

Dee wakes up in a haze on the floor of one of the torture rooms on Alcatraz 2.0. Dee knows that she did not commit the murder she was accused of and will do everything it takes to survive on Alcatraz 2.0. 

I love dystopian novels and this one sounded really good. I wasn't sure about it at first because it started with a bunch of hashtags and clips that you'd see on social media, but it turned out that these clips were just a couple of pages at the beginning of the book and the rest was normal text. 

The ideas of how the "prisoners" were to die was pretty gruesome. The book did take a few different twists and turns that I wasn't expecting. Overall, it was a pretty good book. The ending was a bit of a cliff hanger, but I'm not sure if I'll read the other 2 in the series or not. 

Mother Knows Best by Kira Peikoff - 3 Stars

 "Claire Abrams’s dreams became a nightmare when she passed on a genetic mutation that killed her little boy. Now she wants a second chance to be a mother, and finds it in Robert Nash, a maverick fertility doctor who works under the radar with Jillian Hendricks, a cunning young scientist bent on making her mark—and seducing her boss.

Claire, Robert, and Jillian work together to create the world’s first baby with three genetic parents—an unprecedented feat that could eliminate inherited disease. But when word of their illegal experiment leaks to the wrong person, Robert escapes into hiding with the now-pregnant Claire, leaving Jillian to serve out a prison sentence that destroys her future.

Ten years later, a spunky girl named Abigail begins to understand that all is not right with the reclusive man and woman she knows as her parents. But the family’s problems are only beginning. Jillian, hardened by a decade of jealousy and loss, has returned—and nothing will stop her from reuniting with the man and daughter who should have been hers."

I loved the idea of this book and up until the last couple of chapters it had been really good with a few unexpected twists. It was definitely a good psychological thriller, but I thought the end fell a bit flat.