Other than beauty I am obsessed with reading, I got init reading a few years ago and now I love getting sipucked into a new book. In 2022 I did the book reads challenge and challenged myself to read 50 books, now spoiler alert I didn't read that many but I did read 13 which is too bad (I think). For 2023 I've been a lot more realistic and have challenged myself to read 23 books in 2023! But for now, im going to share with you my thoughts on the book I did get round to reading last year. 

My Lovely Wife 

A couple's fifteen-year marriage has finally gotten too interesting...

Our love story is simple. I met a gorgeous woman. We fell in love. We had kids. We moved to the suburbs. We told each other our biggest dreams, and our darkest secrets. And then we got bored.

We look like a normal couple.
 
We're your neighbors, the parents of your kid's friend, the acquaintances you keep meaning to get dinner with.

We all have secrets to keeping a marriage alive.

Ours just happens to be getting away with murder.

This was the first book that I read in 2022, As soon as I read the back of the book I knew I had to read it. You will sense a theme in this list where all of the books are thrillers and most of them involve murder (I’m normal I promise). When I read a book I need to be hooked right away and that is definitely how I felt when I read this book, it got into the story right away and I was hooked only a few pages in. When looking back on my Goodreads I saw that I gave this book 3/5 stars and that’s because even though the ending was a surprise for me I did guess a few things that were going to happen along the way which I don’t usually like because I love being surprised when I read a book, I love to have that gasping moment. If you like to read books that leaves you thinking a bit and your a bit like huh at the end then this is definitely the book for you. 

Last Place You Look 

The man you love has been murdered. You’d do anything to find out the truth. Wouldn’t you?

A man lies dead in a hotel room, and the police attend his home address to inform the widow. Nothing unusual, until DC Freya West realises – too late – that the victim is the man she has been having an affair with. The future she imagined has been snatched away.

Meanwhile, her new boss, DS Robin Butler, is preoccupied with his own problems. Mistakes he thought buried deep in his past now threaten to be exposed. Before long, both Butler and West are keeping secrets that could end their careers – and worse. 

When the detectives have a chance to tell the truth, they choose to keep quiet. But once that line is crossed, is there any going back? After all, breaking the law is easy when you know how to uphold it.

This book is one I found on one of my Goodreads searches, whenever I need a new book to read I search through Goodreads for ages until I found the right one. This book stood out to me right away because it is the start of a series which I never usually get into and it’s a detective crime thriller which is probably my favourite genre of book to read. This is another book that starts off right into the story, I am someone who needs to be interested right away, if not I will read a few pages and then give up! I love lots of things about this book but one of my favourite is the relationship between the two detectives, they kind of had a will they won’t they involved even while investigating her boyfriends murder! Along with the main story this book also shows background on the detectives with their own background which comes to light at the end. I did try to read the next book in this series but half ways through I gave up, it just wasn’t as good as this one! 

Sharp Objects 

When two girls are killed in Missouri, journalist Camille Preaker is sent back to her home town to report on the crimes.

Long-haunted by her childhood tragedy and estranged from her mother for years, Camille suddenly finds herself installed once again in her family's mansion, reacquainting herself with her distant mother and the half-sister she barely knows - a precocious 13-year-old who holds a disquieting grip on the town. 

As Camille works to discover the truth about these violent crimes, she finds herself identifying with the young victims - a bit too strongly. Clues keep leading to dead ends, forcing Camille to unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past to get to the story. Dogged by her own demons, Camille will have to confront what happened to her years before if she wants to survive this homecoming.

When I found out that Gillian Flynn wrote this book I new I had to read it, I had been obsessed with her since reading Gone Girl (and watching the movie) I love the way that her books are quite creepy but also really well written. This book also had really good reviews on Goodreads and it was made into a tv show so I had to read the book first. The story behind this book is a little twisted and the characters in the book have messed up lives but that is one thing that I really like about this book. I have to say that while reading this book I had no idea how it was going to end, I usually have an idea about what was happening but this book left me totally surprised by the ending which I loved. If your looking for a new crime thriller author  then definitely start reading Gillian Flynn. 

The Perfect Family Man 

Five years ago, my little boy went missing. Now my husband has vanished too. 

Ever since the tragedy of jacks disappearance, Nate and I have barely kept it together. The distance between us goes by the day. So I don’t ask questions when he sets off on another business trip, though I know he’s lying about something p. 

Days pass, and Nate doesn’t return. I realise I have no idea where my husband is, so I call his office, and learn a shocking fact. Nate hasn’t worked for the company in six months. 

Once Ive found this lie, it’s hard not to pick at the scab of our marriage. But I am prepared to accept the truth about my husband, and about what really happened to my little boy? 

Now I first started reading this book in the beginning of 2022 and put it down one day and honestly totally forgot about it but when I was looking for new book to read I dug it out and gave it another chance. The back of the book does make it sound really interesting and I like that it basically has two different stories in this book and it along the way they connect. This book is a little bit different from the others on this list because it does start off slightly slower than I usually like but this helps to build on the story and get a background of the characters. This book is full of twists and turns which makes you want to read on, I read this book really quickly, it usually takes me around a week or two but this book only took me a matter of days! 

One Of The Girls 

One is a liar. One is a stranger, One is a cheater. Who is a killer?
We were dying for a holiday...

The six of us arrived on that beautiful Greek island dreaming of sun-drenched beaches and blood orange sunsets, ready to lose ourselves in the wild freedom of a weekend away with friends.

On the first night we swam under a blanket of stars. On the second night the games began on our clifftop terrace. On the third night the idyll cracked, secrets and lies whispering on the breeze. And by the final night there was a body on the rocks below...

Who would kill for it?

This is one of the more recent books that I've read this year. Anything that has murder and being on holiday is a book that I am going to love. This is another book that I saw drawn to right away, the back of the book had me hooked and I was also attracted by the cover of the book (I do judge books by their covers). I will admit that I did have mixed reviews about this book for the first couple of chapters and I did think about not finishing it but I pushed through and Im glad that I did because I did really like the ending of this book. The first couple of chapters to me did drag on quite a bit, there were a lot of backstories which I guess did help with the story but I do wish it was cut down a little. Once the book started to get into the story there were a lot of twists and turns and I didn't know what was going to happen which I love about books when I don't guess the ending. 

One In Three 

Both of them loved him. One of them killed him . . .

Louise has had to watch her husband, Andrew, start a new family in the four years since he left her. The 'other woman' is now his wife - but Louise isn't ready to let Caz enjoy the life that was once hers, or to let go of the man she still loves.

As Louise starts to dig into Caz's past, the two women's pretence of civility starts to slip. But in trying to undermine each other, they discover more about the man they both married.

And when Andrew is murdered at a family party, both women are found standing over the body.
It's always the wife. But which one?

This book is probably one of my favourites that I read in 2022. I was hooked from the first chapter all the way to the end. I really liked this book because firstly I had no idea who the murder was until right at the end if this book, each chapter I would change my mind as to who I thought it was and by the end I still didn't guess. Usually in books I know which characters I like and who I want to root for while reading but in this book I didn't really know who to root for, each chapter it would be different. I was really gripped reading this book and as it went on their was so many twists and turns I couldn't put this book down and even though it's long I read it so quickly. 

We Are All Liars 

We're best friends.
We trust each other.
But...
We are all liars.
Allie, Stacie, Diana, Emily and Gail have been by each other's sides for as long as they can remember. The Fierce Five. Best friends forever. But growing up has meant growing apart. And little white lies have grown into devastating secrets.
When Gail invites the increasingly estranged friends to reunite at her Scottish cabin, it could be the opportunity to mend old wounds and heal the cracks in their friendship. But when a freak snowstorm rocks the cabin and one of the girls is found dead on the ice, their weekend away becomes a race against time - and each other - to get off the mountain alive.
And in the end, whose story can you trust, when everything was founded on lies to begin with?

This was one of the books that I took with me on my Jamaica holiday last year, reading on holiday is just the best and in a 10-day holiday I read two books which for me is good as im, not a very fast reader. This book was a real page-turner, what I thought this book was going to be was totally different and it definitely didn't end the way that I thought it would. There's nothing better than when I read a book that keeps me guessing, I had no idea what was going to happen next and I had to keep reading until I was done. I am not the biggest fan of cliffhangers because I like a story to be solved but I did really enjoy the way this book ended because I felt it was finished but it still left me questioning a few things. 

The Nurse 

When you hear her story, will you believe her?
Rose Marlowe is a hard-working nurse, a loving wife, and a merciless killer. Or so she says. Despite her confession, it is hard to believe that this beautiful, kind woman could have killed her vulnerable patient in cold blood.
Down-on-his luck author and ex-journalist, Theo Hazel, is convinced that there’s more to what happened than Rose is telling, and so decides to visit her behind bars to write her story. His first surprise comes when Rose reveals that the victim was not a stranger to her. 
As time goes on, it seems that Rose is letting Theo see behind her perfect mask. With each new visit, he learns terrible new things about her heart-breaking past. With each new visit, he becomes more and more convinced that she can’t be a killer. But is he trying to free an innocent victim, or falling prey to a calculating murderer?

This was the other book that I took on holiday with my last year. When I finished this book I didn't really know how to feel about it, I did really enjoy the book but it did get quite confusing and a little far-fetched at some points in the book. There are a lot of characters to keep up with and some of them didn't really make that much in an impact on the story so they could have been left out. The actual story itself is very interesting and it's what made me want to read the book in the first place and what I do like about this book is there are some very likeable characters that you are rooting for and that is one of the main reasons I carried on reading because I wanted to see how these characters ended up. 

The Family Upstairs

In a large house in London's fashionable Chelsea, a baby is awake in her cot. Well-fed and cared for, she is happily waiting for someone to pick her up.
In the kitchen lie three decomposing corpses. Close to them is a hastily scrawled note. They've been dead for several days.
Who has been looking after the baby? And where did they go?

This was the first book that lube read from Lisa Jewell and it is what made me obsessed with her books! The stories she writes are just so good and I love the way that she lays a story out. I didn't know what I was expecting when I started to read this book but it wasn't what it ended up being. This story follows a family whose privileged life gets taken over by some unwanted guests and tells the story of how crazy their lives get. Each chapter is written from the perspective of a different character and it also is at different time frames, some is set back in the 80s and also in the present day. As the book goes on crazy things happen so I was hooked from the beginning right to the end of this book. I was also so excited to realise that there is a second book in this series called The Family Remains which is on my 2023 read list! 

The Couple On Cedar Close 

One sunny August afternoon, the residents of Cedar Close throw their annual summer barbecue. Children play in the cherry-tree lined street, tables are laden with food, and the wine is flowing. For Laurie Mills, it's her first time meeting the neighbours. And it's the first time she discovers her husband Robert is having an affair.
Cedar Close has always been a nice place to live - a quiet suburban street where everyone looks out for one another and bad things don't happen.
Until late one evening, when Robert Mills is found dead in his bedroom.
Downstairs, in their beautiful kitchen, his wife Laurie sits alone in the dark with her head in her hands.
She can't remember the last few hours, but she knows she didn't kill Robert.
The trouble is, no-one believes her...

I first discovered this book when I was having a little wander around The Works and had to get three of their books for £6! (If you are ever looking for affordable books make sure you check out The Works!). I didn't really go in looking for something but this book caught my eye, I like when books start with a murder and then you have to figure out who did it. The murder seems to be a very simple case of the wife doing it but the more you read the more you realise there is more to the story. This book for me was a page-turner, I had to keep reading to see what happened next. I also didn't see the ending coming, I usually have an idea of who the killer is or what the ending was good to be but I was completely surprised which I loved! 



The Woman In Cabin 10 

This was meant to be the perfect trip.
The Northern Lights. A luxury press launch on a boutique cruise ship. A chance for travel journalist Lo Blacklock to recover from a traumatic break-in that has left her on the verge of collapse. Except things don't go as planned.
Woken in the night by screams, Lo rushes to her window to see a body thrown overboard from the next door cabin. But the records show that no-one ever checked into that cabin, and no passengers are missing from the boat.
Exhausted and emotional, Lo has to face the fact that she may have made a mistake - either that, or she is now trapped on a boat with a murderer...

This book was another one that I discovered on Goodreads, I was scrolling through for ages trying to find my next book to read when this one caught my eye because I liked the fact it was set on a boat and it sounded like a classic mystery novel but set it more modern times. This book definitely feels like your reading an Agatha Christie murder mystery novel which is one of my favourite types of books to read. I read this book really quickly and I did enjoy it, I don't think it is up there was one of my favourite books that I read last year but it was a very good book. I didn't guess the ending but I did have some ideas about how it was going to end up. If you are on the lookout for a new murder mystery to read add this one onto your list.

Fifty Fifty 

Two sisters on trial for murder. They cause each other. 

Who do YOU believe?

'911 what's your emergency?'

'My dad's dead. My sister Sofia killed him. She's still in the house. Please send help.'

'My dad's dead. My sister Alexandra killed him. She's still in the house Please send help.'

One of them is a liar and a killer.

But which one?

The back of this book drew me in straight away. I love a thriller book but a also love good whodunit-type books. Throughout reading this whole book I was trying to find out which sister was the killer and closer to the last few chapters I did get it right. This book has a lot of twists along the way and it is pretty dark but it's also a book that makes you want to keep reading to find out the truth. It usually takes me a while to read a book because I don't have too much time to read but this book I finished in a matter of days because I couldn't put it down. I found this book when I was browsing in The Works with no intention of buying anything but I couldn't resist once I read the blurb. If you love a whodunit-style book then definitely give Firty Firty a read. 

The Night She Disappeared 

Mum, there's some people here from college, they asked me back to theirs. Just for an hour or so. Is that OK?
Midsummer 2017: teenage mum Tallulah heads out on a date, leaving her baby son at home with her mother, Kim.
At 11pm she sends her mum a text message. At 4.30am Kim awakens to discover that Tallulah has not come home.
Friends tell her that Tallulah was last seen heading to a pool party at a house in the woods nearby called Dark Place.
Tallulah never returns.
2018: walking in the woods behind the boarding school where her boyfriend has just started as a head-teacher, Sophie sees a sign nailed to a fence.
A sign that says: Dig here...


This is the second book that I've read so far from Lisa Jewell and again I was obsessed with it. The book had me hooked right from the first page. This was a slightly longer book than usual and I read it in a matter if days because I just couldn't put it down. I think out of this book and The Family Upstairs this is my favourite out if the two and I think it may have been my favourite read of 2022! This is one of the books that I've read that I can envision as a movie and this book would definitely make a great movie, it's full of twists and turns. It has everything you want in a thriller, abandoned mentioned, secret tunnels and boarding schools. If you haven't read a book by Lisa Jewell yet definitely give one of the books a read you will love them! 

If you are still with me thank you because I know that was a long post. I hope this post has given you some inspiration on books that you want to read this year! What books did you love in 2022? 

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10 comments:

  1. I haven’t read or heard of these. But fifty fifty sounds like a good read. I have saved that one to put it on my list! Thank you for sharing.

    Happy New Year!
    Lauren - bournemouthgirl

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    1. Fifty Fifty was a really good book! I'm sure you will love it x

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  2. Great book suggestions, I would love to read about the two sisters because I love mystery and crime.

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  3. Quite a few of these sound like really good reads and stories I could get into; I particularly like the sound of The Woman In Cabin 10 as there's a but of mystery there that I'd enjoy!

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    1. The woman in cabin 10 was a really great book, so many twists and turns x

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  4. I loved The Woman in Cabin 10 and My Lovely Wife! I'll have to check out the others that you've mentioned here because I think we have quite similar taste in books!

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  5. The women in cabin 10 sounds like a book I would really love, and something that would be a gripping read! I've read sharp objects but I've not heard of any other books on this list x

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  6. Ooh, lots of intriguing books here! I mainly read romance but sometimes branch out to other books :)

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  7. A lot of really good books here! I love the sound of Fifty Fifty! x

    Lucy Mary

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