A traditional American woman, a beautiful wife and mother who sells her pioneer lifestyle of raw milk and farm-fresh eggs to her millions of social media followers, suddenly awakens cold, filthy, and terrified in the brutal reality of 1805—where she must unravel whether this living nightmare is an elaborate hoax, a twisted reality show, or something far more sinister in this sensational debut novel.
My name was Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive.
YA Fiction not only unafraid of the darker side of life, but that goes after it staring into its depths unflinching and writing down what it sees.
I’ve officially caught up on (almost) all things Mindy McGinnis, finally reading her entire backlist except things like short stories and co-writing projects done for other authors. But McGinnis’ solo stuff? I’m all caught up and what a wild ride. The first book of hers that I read was The Female of the Species and from that moment I was hooked (it’s still my favorite though I wish they hadn’t changed the cover recently. The original cover shown in this post looks like it’s a book with something to say while the new cover just looks like creepy semi-abstract art imo). I read Heroine, Be Not Far From Me, The Initial Insult duology…then it was time to partner with my library’s resources to find everything else I’d missed. My conclusion? She’s still one of my top favorite authors who can tackle any genre that comes to her mind and one day I hope to meet her.
In this post I’ve included brief reviews for all of her books (except sequels though most of her books are stand-alones anyway) and if I’d written a longer review (you know how I like to ramble haha) then I’ve included the link. So scroll through and see if anything catches your fancy. She really is a talented author and at the very least her books will make you think twice before settling in Ohio lol.
YA best-selling authors team up with the superhero cash cow. An exciting partnership or a basic marketing ploy?
The year was 2017. I’m obsessed with Leigh Bardugo and Sarah J. Maas while the movie industry is obsessed with superheroes. Again. Or, rather, still? The publishers are making bank off of several popular YA authors and have an idea of how to make more. DC’s perk? They reach the up-and-coming audience. But while I was voraciously willing to pick up anything by these new favorite authors, the release of DC Icons made me pause and choose to save my carefully rationed pennies not only because I was hesitant about the genre but because by several accounts these books were, in a word, disappointing. However now it’s 2023 and I’ve remembered that libraries exist.
In this gripping page-turner, an ex-agent on the run from her former employers must take one more case to clear her name and save her life.
She used to work for the U.S. government, but very few people ever knew that. An expert in her field, she was one of the darkest secrets of an agency so clandestine it doesn’t even have a name. And when they decided she was a liability, they came for her without warning.
The challenge: spend a week hiding in an abandoned amusement park and don’t get caught.
The prize: enough money to change everything.
Even though everyone is desperate to win–to seize their dream futures or escape their haunting pasts–Mack feels sure that she can beat her competitors. All she has to do is hide, and she’s an expert at that.
It’s the reason she’s alive, and her family isn’t.
She was born for all the wrong reasons. But her search for the truth reveals answers she wishes she could forget in this suspenseful and deeply moving novel from the author of The Last One.
“It’s been a year since the Catalog Killer terrorized the sleepy seaside town of Camera Cove, killing four people before disappearing without a trace. Like everyone else in town, eighteen-year-old Mac Bell is trying to put that horrible summer behind him—easier said than done since Mac’s best friend Connor was the murderer’s final victim. But when he finds a cryptic message from Connor, he’s drawn back into the search for the killer—who might not have been a random drifter after all. Continue reading →
“Something is out there, something terrifying that must not be seen. One glimpse of it, and a person is driven to deadly violence. No one knows what it is or where it came from. Continue reading →
“Anna is everything her identical twin is not. Outgoing and athletic, she is the opposite of quiet introvert Jess. The same on the outside, yet so completely different inside–it’s hard to believe the girls are sisters, let alone twins. But they are. And they tell each other everything.