Review: An Interactive Read with A Most Puzzling Murder by Bianca Marais
A Most Puzzling Murder by Bianca Marais is an excellent mystery full of magic, twists, and audience participation!
Audience Participation, you ask? Yes! You get to solve puzzles, and choose a path you want the characters to take at certain points in the story. Get ready to be an active participant! If you love puzzles, this story will make you incredibly happy! Can you figure out the puzzles?
For those who don’t want the audience participation component: This is still a must read! Just choose paths at random (or read both), and don’t solve the puzzles. You’ll still get a great story experience.
The magic in this story is so cleverly done, as well as the plotting. Character development is top notch. The multi POV is insightful, and created to engage the reader while also creating intrigue and more mystery. And the main character is brilliant! Not just because she’s brilliant, but because Bianca crafted an amazing MC.
I listened to the audiobook version of this story, which was incredibly well done by a single narrator. Typically I like different narrators for different POVs, but this story didn’t need it. The narrator nailed it, and I didn’t feel at all like the audio was missing something. I listened to his audiobook at 1.5x speed (my normal audiobook speed is 1.75x, but I didn’t want to miss any of the clues).
Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for this advanced listening copy.
Find a copy of your book at your local bookstore, or by following the Bookshop.org link below.
Serial Killer Games: The Thriller Romcom With So Many Twists…And One Left Me Sobbing
Serial Killer Games by Kate Posey is a fantastic thriller romcom. This book is a must read for thriller lovers and romcom lovers alike.
I absolutely love a thriller romcom. This book delivers, too. It is full of suspense, can’t put down momentum, and twists! So many twists! And when you think it can’t offer any more twists, another will be delivered that will crush your soul, leaving you sobbing from the overflow of mixed emotions.
It’s nearly impossible to offer a summary of this story without giving things away, so here’s my pitch to anyone on the fence about reading:
Told in a dual POV, this is an enemies to lovers romcom with a workplace setting, but with the fun twist of the two playing serial killer games with one another. As they continue this cat and mouse game, their eccentricities become their commonalities—their bond—and slowly, they reveal their vulnerabilities and secrets.
This is such a great read! It’s funny, fun, heart wrenching, and thrillery.
Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for this advanced readers copy.
I also borrowed the audiobook version from Sno-Isle Libraries through the Libby app. The narrators were amazing! Highly recommend the audiobook version as well! I listened at 1.5x speed (my normal is 1.75x speed).
To purchase Serial Killer Games by Kate Posey, reach out to your local bookstore, or purchase the title through Bookshop.org here.
Thank you for Reading!
Hannah ~ The Wordly Traveler
High Functioning - Are You Missing a Key Depression Diagnosis Because You’re High Functioning?
High Functioning by Judith Joseph is a fascinating and eye-opening non fiction focused on mental health and self-help. This book is about high functioning depression, in which the author has researched, studied, and discovered is a form of depression that is not well known, and not well detected.
Have you been moving non-stop, driven by guilt, a need to control the narrative of your life, to overachieve, and to escape feeling? Do you feel like despite all you do, it’s not enough? But have you told your providers on repeat, “I don’t have depression”?
If this sounds like you (it sounds like me…), this book is one for you! You will not get bored with this read. It will keep you engaged and give you actionable steps to determine where you are at, and what you can do.
This book has changed the narrative of my own life. I know that seems like such a big statement to make, but this book spoke to me, down to my core. I cried multiple times with revelation after revelation. And then I spoke to my provider and therapist. I now have new plans in place to address an underlying issue that I’ve been trying to figure out for so long, but without a clear path, because I didn’t think I was depressed.
I listened to the audiobook version of this book, which was so well done. I listened at 1.5x speed to ensure I absorbed every nugget of information (my typical audiobook speed is 1.75x).
Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio for this advanced listener copy. It has truly been a gift.
Thank you for Reading!
Hannah ~ The Wordly Traveler
Getting Back to Thrillers with The French Honeymoon
The French Honeymoon by Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau is a fantastic thriller full of secrets, family drama, and clever twists.
Told from multiple points of view, this story will have you guessing the connections between the characters, and thrilled at the reveals. Each character is unlikable, but intriguing in their own ways, which make them unforgettable and absolutely readable.
It has been harder for me to read thrillers lately, as I’ve been needing happy escapes in my books, but this thriller didn’t weigh me down or make me want to scramble back to my other comforts. It was incredibly enjoyable, because the plot was clever and the unlikable and morally ambiguous characters were like catnip to me,
If you’re like me, a reader who typically loves thrillers, but has been standoffish lately due to life and the world, give this thriller a try. It just might pull you back into the dark, twisty, gray world of thrillers.
Thank you NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark marketing and publicity team for reaching out and providing this advanced reader copy.
P.S. - I also borrowed the audiobook version of this story from my local library, Sno-Isle, through the Libby App. The audiobook has three narrators who were fantastic at bringing this story to life. I listened at 1.5-1.75x speed (my normal audiobook speed is 1.75x). The male narrator performs with a French accent and read slightly faster than the other narrators, which required me to slow down a bit.
Summary of The French Honeymoon:
This story is about a honeymoon (actually, two) gone terribly wrong.
Sorry, that’s all I can tell you without giving it away.
Check this book out through your local library. Or you can purchase The French Honeymoon via my Bookshop.org link below, or from your local bookstore.
Thank you for reading!
Hannah ~ The Wordly Traveler
The Dream Hotel: An eerily realistic sci-fi thriller that tackles race, sex, and repression
The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami is an absolute must read. This story will easily be in the top ten of my favorite books in 2025.
This is a Science Fiction novel, yet, it is absolutely relevant, and creepily realistic. In our political climate here in the US, and with advancements in technology, this story didn’t feel too far off from where we are at now, making it feel very real, and grounded within the trajectory of our near future.
The absolute power of this book isn’t from the realistic possibility of the Sci-Fi though, but within the female experience. So much progress we’ve made, only to have it taken away piece by piece. And who is left to fight in an unjust world? Not many. But this story finds the few, and delivers the message that we must always fight for our rights, and for ourselves, even when the world tells us to shut up.
I highly recommend this book! You don’t need to be a Sci-Fi genre reader to enjoy this one. It is serious, but it’s also rich in imagery, and thought provoking moments. It will keep you beholden to it from the first line until the last, and long after.
For those curious to learn what this book is about, here’s a quick blurb:
The Dream Hotel follows the main character, Sara, in a near future world where people are constantly under surveillance…even their dreams. Sara is taken into custody when it’s determined she’s a risk to her husband because she’s had some dreams where she harms them. She’s told she’s not under arrest, and hasn’t been charged with anything, but is to remain in a temporary holding facility to be monitored until she can argue her case and prove her innocence. But with one error after another, her short stint turns into multiple months…months she could be spending as a mother to her young twins who now have a hard time remembering her. After one too many system errors (or deliberate attacks from one of the officers), she realizes how inept the system is—how cruel and inhumane—and must choose to either keep her mouth shut and do exactly as told, or stand up for herself and the other women who have been diminished by a flawed system.
As it is with most books I read, I ended up listening to the audiobook version. This audiobook had two narrators, Frankie Corzo and Barton Caplan. Frankie was the narrator for the majority of the book, and did an outstanding job bringing this story to audiobook life by making this already suspenseful story even more so, and embodying the main character. I listened at 1.5x speed which is slower than my normal 1.75x speed, but I didn’t want to miss a single thing when it came to listening to this story.
You can find the hardcover, paperback, and ebook here.
Thank you for reading!
Hannah ~ The Wordly Traveler