Book Review: Just Like Mother by Anne Heltzel

 As a kid, I had always preferred teddy bears over dolls. Dolls looked creepy. And the cover photo of Just Like Mother reminded me of the serial killer doll, Chuckie.

So why did I pick up this book? Well, although Chuckie the movie freaked me out more than any other horror movie, I had this perverse curiosity to see if the doll in this book would go on a killing rampage.....and the verdict?

No, the dolls in the book were not killers though they were creepy enough on their own. They were life-like, and reacted like real babies. 

That said, the dolls were not the focus of the plot. Instead, the plot revolved around two cousins, Maeve and Andrea, who grew up together in a cult community.

Maeve escaped from the cult one night, and that was the last Maeve saw of Andrea. For twenty years, Maeve worked hard at establishing a life of her own, keeping everyone else at a safe distance.

And then, one day Andrea reappeared in Maeve's life. As the cousins reunited and Maeve spent more time in Andrea's home in a remote area, the childhood memories which she had buried were triggered. She had to confront her childhood terrors if she wanted to stay alive.

The plot wasn't bad, quite well-written. It just wasn't gripping enough. I could put the book down at will, and there were even days when I forgot to continue reading it. As a result, it took me weeks to finish this book instead of a day or two like some books which had even more pages than this.

Book Review: Ask For Andrea by Noelle W. Ihli

 This was a fun read. Ask for Andrea was written from three women's POV: Brecia, Meghan and Skye. Their POVs after they're dead. Murdered.

Yes, they're ghosts, and they're coming after James Carson, the serial killer who ended their lives. They're not your typical menacing, vengeful ghosts though. 

After Brecia was murdered, she haunted James with the intention to prevent him from killing other women. She was sometimes successful, sometimes not.

When she failed to help Meghan, she stopped following James out on his killing sprees. Instead, she stayed home with James' wife, April, and his two young daughters. 

Until one day when Skye, who was haunting her mother, followed the police to James' house and met Brecia. Then, they met Meghan, who had stayed by her remains, desperately wanting someone to find her. And that's when they joined forces to help the police catch James.

Unlike other horror genre, this book didn't attempt to frighten its readers. Instead, it devoted much of its time to fleshing out the three main characters. It had suspense interspersed with some heart-wrenching moments and comical relief.

I read that there is a short sequel to it, titled The River, to be published in January 2024 (should have been published now - it's already 3rd February 2024). If I could find it, I'll give it a read to see if it's as good as its prequel.

Book Review: Verity by Colleen Hoover

 I finally read Verity by Colleen Hoover, which was published two years before McFadden's The Wife Upstairs. The irony is, Verity was on New York Times Bestseller list for months and yet, I didn't feel inclined to read it until after I've read The Wife Upstairs, which wasn't even on a bestseller list! 

I'm not a fan of Hoover's work. I've read some of her books (It Ends With Us being one of them), and I haven't really liked or disliked them enough to write a review on them. 

But the reviews raved about Verity, and said The Wife Upstairs was just a fan fiction. Verity, apparently, was the first thriller Hoover ventured into. A personal Indie project, her website said. For a first attempt at writing thrillers, I must say it's really good. 

Now, how does it compare with The Wife Upstairs? What's similar?

1. The Characters.

Verity: Lowen was a struggling writer who could no longer afford to pay rent. She was commissioned to finish the remaining three novels out of a nine-novel series by Jeremy, the husband of Verity, a best-selling author who was semi-comatose after an accident. 

TWU: Sylvia was about to be turned out on the streets. She was hired by Adam Barnett, a best-selling author to be a companion to his wife Vicky, who was semi-paralyzed after an accident.

2. The Location.

Verity: Lowen had to stay in Verity & Jeremy's house to go through her notes and story outlines for the remaining three novels. The house and Verity creeped her out.

TWU: Sylvia had to stay in Adam and Vicky's house, a huge, gated mansion in a remote area. The house creeped Sylvia out.

3. The Plot.

Verity: Whilst going through the stacks of notes that Verity had in her office, Lowen discovered Verity's autobiography, which revealed horrifying and evil secrets.

TWU: Vicky pointed to a drawer and gestured with her hand that she wanted Sylvia to read her diary, which detailed a troubled marriage between her and Adam.

With the similarities out of the way, how do these two books really compare, writing-wise? In my personal opinion, I find Hoover's Verity to have a stronger voice. The autobiography was savage, for want of a better word. No doubt it had too many pages of explicit sexual act (think Fifty Shades of Grey), just like McFadden's TWU had too many pages of adoration for Adam, but the voice was strong and demanded your undivided attention.

Vicky in TWU had an easily dismissed voice, by comparison. I couldn't help thinking why she didn't just ditched Adam. 

Although there was extra-marital sex committed in the marital home in the marital bed, in TWU the protagonist had a conscience and decided to end the affair.

In Verity, Lowen had no such qualms. She even suggested that Jeremy placed Verity in a nursing home so that he could move on and have a life (with her, Lowen). Talk about a home-breaker! I had no sympathy for her, nor did I care about her being creeped out by Verity. 

And the ending? TWU had a more believable twist. Verity's twist left me in disbelief. Not disbelief in a good way, but disbelief as in, what evidence was there for me to believe that crap? I read and re-read, but no, it just didn't do it for me. That letter in the end wasn't a twist. The autobiography was the truth, the voice was real and authoritative. The letter was a feeble attempt to manipulate Jeremy into believing her innocence.

Read also: The Wife Upstairs

Book Review: The Wife Upstairs by Freida McFadden

 Before I start on a book, I checked out the reviews first. Just to see if a book is worth my time. All the reviews had the same thing to say: The Wife Upstairs is just a fan fiction, that it is similar to Verity by Colleen Hoover which was published two years earlier, and that even the dialogue is similar.

Well, I haven't read Verity by Colleen Hoover yet, but I shall do so after I'm done with this review.

This book gripped me right from the very first page. The narrator is Sylvia Johnson. She is about to become homeless and is desperate. She is offered a dream job by Adam Barnett, a New York best-selling author, to take care of his wife, Victoria, who is semi-paralyzed from a fall down a long spiral staircase.

The Barnetts live in a huge, gated mansion at the tip of Long Island, a remote and isolated area with power cuts during a storm. The house gave Sylvia the creeps, she felt she will be doomed if she stays there. Yet, she has no choice. It was either accept the job or be turned out on the streets.

The diary was a little lame at first, it went into great detail on how much Victoria loved Adam, and the wonderful sex they had together. The story only picked up after the second half of the book, when Victoria started writing about how Adam was an obsessive, jealous control freak which sent warning tingles down my spine.

I would have gotten the hell out of the house, homeless or not. But both Victoria and Sylvia were women blinded by handsome men. Instead of running away from Adam, they stayed on with him. Sylvia even comforted herself with the thought that Victoria hadn't mentioned that Adam was violent.

McFadden tried to make the reader wonder who the true villain was by putting out some red herrings, but I wasn't fooled one bit. That said, this book is still interesting enough for me to recommend it. 

And now I'm off to start on Verity.

Read also: Verity

Book Review: The Klone and I by Danielle Steel

 

The Klone and I is a story about a love triangle that develops between Stephanie and Peter, and his clone, Paul Klone. 

Peter is a bionic genius, and he sends his clone, Paul, to Stephanie to entertain and amuse her when he goes away on business trips. 

Mayhem ensued when Paul Klone arrives at Stephanie's doorstep. Paul is the very opposite of Peter. While Peter is a conservatively dressed businessman, Paul is loud and flashy. He likes tight-fitting neon leotards, thinks nothing of enacting a real fart in Charade and likes to do triple flips whilst making love (giggle).

It is one of those light, fluffy, entertaining books that serious-minded readers should give a miss.  There is nothing substantial here, it's just lots of fun rides, much like going to a theme park. I went away feeling entertained and amused, with my brain cells preserved and unused.

*Spoiler alert*

That said, I felt the ending was a little unexpected. The author had led me to believe that the protagonist was falling in love with the clone. Paul had more attention and pages given to him than Peter. You would be forgiven for forgetting that there is a Peter in the story. There was hardly any character development where Peter was concerned. He remained a familiar stranger till the end. Paul was the one who had all the character development. 

And with all that was going on, the ending felt a little rushed. Like as if the editor said, ok, you've reached your maximum number of words.