Vacations are funny.

The days are long. The week is short. It makes time slow down and speed up. As I look at my list of June reads, some of these books feel like I read them a lifetime ago. So much has happened since then. But at the same time, everything is the same. I’ll stop rambling now…

Overall, June proved to be a solid month of reading. I’m definitely on a thriller/mystery/suspense kick:

• Home Is Where the Bodies Are by Jeneva Rose
• Everyone Here Is Lying by Shari Lapena
• Don’t Believe It by Charlie Donlea
• The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren
• One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware
• The Coworker by Freida McFadden
• The Locked Door by Freida McFadden

Let’s get into the reviews!

Home Is Where the Bodies Are by Jeneva Rose

Following the death of their mother, Beth and her siblings, Nicole and Michael, are left with the task of clearing out their mom’s house. While cleaning, they discover a box of old home videos. They decide to pop one in the VCR, only to be horrified by what they see. Their parents are seemingly connected to the disappearance of a missing girl. Everything they know about their family starts to unravel.

I was so excited to read this one! I absolutely love the cover and the initial premise, but, at times, I found the story to be slower than I’d like for a thriller.

Rating: 7/10

Everyone Here Is Lying by Shari Lapena

William Wooler, devastated after the woman he was having an affair with ends things, hits his 9-year-old daughter in a fit of rage. He quickly leaves the home to cool off, feeling sick and ashamed about what he’s done. That was the last time anyone saw Avery. The subsequent police search and investigation upends his life and the lives of everyone in the neighborhood. It turns out, William is not the only one with secrets.

This one is full of twists and turns! Any time you think you know what happened to Avery, you’re wrong. I couldn’t stop listening to the audiobook. I needed to know.

Rating: 7/10

Don’t Believe It by Charlie Donlea

Remember Making a Murderer on Netflix? Or the Serial podcast? That’s what Sidney does. She creates documentaries that raise questions about convicted felons.

So, when Sidney decides to make a new documentary, “The Girl of Sugar Beach”, everyone is skeptical. Grace Sebold very clearly killed her boyfriend Julian while on vacation in St. Lucia. Only… the case starts to unravel the more that Sidney dives into the details. Could Grace really be innocent?

This one really surprised me! I had never heard of it and picked it at random at the library, but I was hooked from the first pages. I loved how everything unfolded in surprising and unexpected ways.

Rating: 8/10

The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren

This was so cute!

Fizzy is a romance author who has been unlucky in love herself. When she’s approached to star in a dating reality show, she very reluctantly agrees. The attractive (and sort of grumpy) producer of the show is definitely a tempting part of why she says yes. She soon finds herself torn between her contract and her growing feelings for Connor.

If you’re looking for something cute and fun, this is definitely it. But be warned, this is definitely not PG.

Rating: 7/10

(This would have scored a higher rating if it had been shorter. I felt like it was much longer than it needed to be.)

One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware

Lyla is frustrated. Her life and her career aren’t shaping up the way she imagined, so when her boyfriend wants to go on a couples reality show together, she decides to take the plunge. It couldn’t make things any worse, right? (I think you know this is going to make things worse…)

Almost immediately after being whisked away to a secluded tropical island with four other couples, chaos begins. Imagine something like Survivor, except it truly is life or death.

Rating: 8/10

The Coworker by Freida McFadden

Coworkers, Natalie and Dawn, couldn’t be more different. Natalie is beautiful, popular, and well-liked, while Dawn is seen as strange and has a hard time fitting in. When Dawn doesn’t show up to work, Natalie takes it upon herself to go looking for her. What Natalie discovers is horrifying. And much to her surprise, she soon becomes the prime suspect in Dawn’s disappearance. Who is telling the truth?

Freida McFadden is becoming one of my favorite authors. Once I start one of her books, I can’t stop myself from finishing it within a day or two. I love a good mystery and surprising last page reveals. Admittedly, this is probably my least favorite of hers so far (the turtle stuff became a bit much after awhile… IYKYK), but I still needed to find out what happened to Dawn.

Rating: 7/10

The Locked Door by Freida McFadden

Nora is the daughter of a notorious serial killer and despite changing her name and saving lives as a surgeon, she can’t shake her past. The bodies of two women have turned up in her town directly matching the gruesome way her dad killed people. The police quickly think she is somehow involved and knows more than she’s saying.

This was an interesting journey as you aren’t sure who to trust and things just keep escalating. Certain chapters were especially stressful!

Rating: 8/10

Want more book reviews? Check out what I read in May 2024.

As always, I want to know what you are reading! Leave me a comment below with some of your recent reads.