Review: Mummy’s Little Secret by M.A. Hunter

Read this if…your life has been overwhelming lately and you need to feel better about your circumstances by comparing yourself to someone who has it a lot worse. 

Trigger warning: This review and the book have themes that include stillbirth, postpartum depression, drug abuse, and domestic violence.

Let me introduce you to a character I have nicknamed “Hot Mess Jess.” Jess has a lot on her plate. Just 6 months prior, she got into a car accident that triggered her labor and resulted in the death of her unborn son and left her paralyzed from the waist down. Understandably, she’s having a rough time dealing with the loss of her baby and her mobility. One day while at the park with her daughter, Jess is approached by a little girl who tells her the woman she’s with isn’t her mother. Jess is concerned, but everyone she tells about the strange encounter  just tells her she’s being paranoid. So Jess starts doing her own digging into this woman. Fast forward a week and Jess is the prime suspect in a murder committed at this woman’s house.

I liked how this novel was set up. The chapters alternate between Jess and Morag (the mystery woman) from the time they meet up until the murder. At the same time, readers are presented with chapters in the present from the lead detective’s POV. This really kept me reading to try and see how this chance meeting at a park could result in so much chaos. 

That being said, Hot Mess Jess was just too much. Her character was so depressing and even with giving her the empathy she deserved, I found her to be unlikable. The twists and turns were there, but didn’t really surprise me. And I hated how it ended. So, it wasn’t a terrible read, but it could’ve been better in a lot of ways.

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️//5

At the time of this review, this book is scheduled to be released on August 3, 2021.

Thanks to the author, Harper Collins UK, and Netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review: For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing

Just a disclaimer: no teacher I know thinks or behaves the way teachers in this book do! Haha! 

Teddy is a teacher at a prestigious private school where the students are entitled and the parents are even worse. He puts up with all the nonsense because he believes it is his job to teach these kids how to be decent human beings. If their parents have shielded them from appropriate consequences, then Teddy steps in to show them how the real world works, even if that means being a tad unethical and petty at times. It’s all for the good of the students, after all. However, Teddy’s lessons aren’t solely focused on his students, which becomes clear when one of his pranks goes horribly wrong and leaves someone dead. Teddy doesn’t stop there though and the whole school is about to become known as #HomicideHigh.

I had previously read ‘My Lovely Wife’ by Samantha Downing and really enjoyed it. So when this one popped up on NetGalley, I put my request in right away. Being a teacher, I have to admit that Teddy couldn’t have been much farther from a teacher of the year with his warped sense of duty to his students. That being said, this novel was extremely enjoyable to read. Teddy is a true villain and there were a lot of twists and turns throughout the book to keep me reading. My only complaints were that the pacing slowed down quite a bit about 2/3 of the way through and while the ending was satisfying, it seemed a little subdued considering the huge buildup.

My Rating: ★★★★☆

At the time of this post, this title is set to be released on July 20, 2021.

*Thanks to the author, Berkley Publishing, and Netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Review: Meditations for Psychic Development by Chandra Parkinson

If you are interested in learning more about how to strengthen your psychic abilities, Chandra Parkinson's book may be for you. Meditations for Psychic Development: Practical Exercises to Awaken Your Sixth Sense gives the reader an opportunity to learn more about their abilities and provides easy-to-implement meditation exercises to increase those abilities. The first section of the book covers the basics the author thinks the reader needs to know and understand in order to reach their fullest potential. There is a short introduction explaining how everyone is psychic to some degree and how to create a mindset that will nurture your psychic growth. The fundamentals of meditation and psychic work are also addressed, but only on a surface level. A quiz is provided to help readers determine how they best receive psychic information through one or more of the "clairs" (clairvoyance, clairsentience, clairaudience, and claircognizance). There are specific meditations that align with each of these clairs provided, as well as questions for journaling and reflecting on the reader's experiences. Then, the chakras are explained briefly and meditations for opening the third eye, enhancing your intuition, and grounding yourself for protection are included.

The next section of the book goes into more advanced forms of receiving and connecting with psychic messages. Meditations that address auras, spirit guides, mediumships, nature, and your higher self are included in this section. Like in the previous section, each meditation includes prompts for journaling and reflection.

Personally, to make these meditations work for me, I recorded myself reading them aloud and played them back as a guided meditation. Some people might be able to just read the meditations first and then go through the exercise on their own, but I was not successful using this book in that way. Of the meditations I did try, I felt the immediate benefits of a slower heartrate, and a calm, clear mind. It's too soon for me to say whether or not these exercises have increased my psychic abilities yet, but with continued practice, I'm hopeful. All of these meditations were easy to do and even those who have never meditated before should be able to complete them. I appreciated the addition of the journaling prompts because it allows me to track my progress as I do the meditations more and more.

Overall, this is a great beginner book for those interested in strengthening their psychic skills. I can't guarantee the exercises actually increase psychic ability, but I can say that I felt all the usual benefits from sitting down and meditating. So it's definitely not a waste of time and worth checking out if this is something that interests you.

My Rating: ★★★★☆

At the time of this post, this title is set to be released on August 8th, 2021.

*Thanks to the author, Llewellyn Worldwide, and Netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Review: The Serial Killer’s Wife by Alice Hunter

With all the serial killer novels I’ve read, I’d like to think I’d have an inkling if my husband were sneaking around and murdering women, but maybe that’s what the protagonist in Alice Hunter’s latest novel, The Serial Killer’s Wife, thought too. Beth thinks she has the perfect family. She lives with her doting husband, Tom, and adorable three year-old daughter, Poppy. So you can imagine her shock when the police show up on her doorstep looking for Tom in relation to the disappearance and assumed murder of his former girlfriend. As the murder investigation begins to wreak havoc on her family, public perception of Beth takes a turn for the worse. Is she really just another innocent victim in her husband’s deadly games or does she know more than she’s letting on? 

This one is tricky. It definitely will appeal to fans of unreliable narrators. I won’t give any spoilers, but I will say that I had already decided about 60% in that this would be 3 stars at the highest. It started out right in the middle of the action with the police showing up at Beth’s door looking for her husband in relation to a murder inquiry, but I just couldn’t understand Beth’s behavior. A lot of that made more sense as some twists and turns were revealed, but I couldn’t stand her character. The only reason I’m giving this one an extra half star is because of the ending. It completely surprised me and ended the book on a high note.

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫//5

Add this one to your TBR list if you think you’d like it. Pub day is August 3, 2021!

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Avon Books for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.