The Sanatorium - Sarah Pearse

After an intense few weeks of romance and fantasy, I wanted to break things up with a something a little darker. The Sanatorium has been sat on my bookshelf and TBR for a little while now so I figured now would be as good a time as any to jump right in.

Elin is on leave from the police force following a case that left her emotionally, physically and mentally scarred. Invited to her brothers engagement celebrations at a new hotel in the Swiss Alps, she and her boyfriend Will take the trip to the middle of nowhere in the midst of one of the worst storms the area has seen in decades.

As well as the complex family history that Elin has to overcome, the threat of evacuation due to the weather is made that much more urgent when her soon-to-be sister in law goes missing.

What I loved most about this story wasn't the "thriller" aspect surprisingly, though it was done very well. It was the history of the building itself. The way the medical practises were described and the feeling I got when reading about it was perfectly creepy - Pearse did SUCH a good job in projecting that sense of unease.

And the imagery of the Swiss Alps? Stunning.

Whilst it was set in a completely different part of the world, the scenery gave me series Misery vibes. And the layout of the story was similarly paced to that of Lucy Foley, but the historical element REALLY set it apart. I'd highly recommend this for any thriller fan.

Comments

A Merry Little Meet Cute - Julie Murphy & Sierra Simone

What a bloody lovely Christmas beaut this was! If you're venturing into spicy romance books and have been on Instagram or TikTok recently, it's likely that you would have seen this little gem doing the rounds. Bee is a content creator for ClosedDoor (think.. OnlyFans) and Nolan is an ex-boyband bad boy that are both cast in a Hope Channel (think... Hallmark) Christmas movie, Duke The Halls. Nolan is reinventing his career and trying to rid himself of the bad boy image whereas Bee is brought in last minute because the Lead Actress has been taken ill. The best part? Bee was a massive fan of Nolan in her teenage years and Nolan has been following Bee on social media for a while. And they're getting paid to get to know each other. I adored this book. It was everything I wanted it to be and is perfect for those of us who love a Hallmark Christmas movie but wished there was a bit heat in the romances. the positive message around Bee's work is brilliantly handled, not to me...

Looking Out for Love - Sophia Money-Coutts

Looking Out For Love is the latest novel by Sophia Money-Coutts and promises a laugh-out-loud and heartwarming read. We follow Stella, unlucky in love and searching in all the wrong places until she meets mysterious Fitz. Falling head over heels in lust, she has unanswered questions whilst doing her best to support her best friend Billie, who is going through the worst time imaginable. Is Fitz everything she wants and needs him to be? For me personally, Stella’s quest for Mr Right was totally relatable but she came across as extremely one dimensional and selfish. So much more could have been down with the story and characters - Billie’s storyline could have proven an opportunity for Stella to grow and develop, but instead she acted with only herself in mind. I loved Jez - he was exactly what you'd expect the boyfriend of your best friend to be - irritating but worthy. He could have provided a lot more comic relief especially in the more sensitive parts of the plot As an easy r...

All The Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr

Started: Monday 20th June 2022 Finished: Saturday 25th June 2022 Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ In All The Light We Cannot See , we follow Werner and Marie-Laure through their adolescence during the Second World War. I didn’t know what to expect of this book. Through snippets of their lives, we understand what it is to be a teenage in the times of Nazi Germany as Werner spends his time in the Hitler Youth, and Marie-Laurie in Occupied France. I didn't know what to expect of this book. I hadn't read any synopsis and all I knew was that it was based within the years of 1939-1945. I'd recently finished The Lilac Girls and and sworn myself off of these kinds of books for while; but ATLWCS is rarely available through the Libby app so when I got a notification that my "hold" was ready, it was a now or never. As you can expect from most books set in these times, there is an element of "unexpected hero". I think it's safe to say that due to the atrocities that were...

The Little Library Project

Search This Blog