Book Review: The Perfect Place to Die by Bryce Moore

 

Title: The Perfect Place to Die

Author: Bryce Moore

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Publishing Date: August 3rd, 2021

Read: January 4th, 2023

Pages: 384

Audio Length: 7 Hours 20 Mins

Genre: YA Horror Historical Fiction

TW: Murder, obviously

Series: Standalone

Source: Audio

What it's about:

Stalking Jack the Ripper meets Devil in the White City. In order to save her sister, Zuretta takes a job at a notorious house of horrors—but she might never escape.

Zuretta never thought she’d encounter a monster—one of the world’s most notorious serial killers. She had resigned herself to a quiet life in Utah. But when her younger sister, Ruby, travels to Chicago during the World’s Fair, and disappears, Zuretta leaves home to find her.

But 1890s Chicago is more dangerous and chaotic than she imagined. She doesn’t know where to start until she learns of her sister’s last place of employment…a mysterious hotel known as The Castle.

Zuretta takes a job there hoping to learn more. And before long she realizes the hotel isn’t what it seems. Women disappear at an alarming rate, she hears crying from the walls, and terrifying whispers follow her at night. In the end, she finds herself up against one of the most infamous mass murderers in American history—and his custom-built death trap.

What I thought:

So I read Bryce's other book, Don't Go To Sleep last year, and I gobbled it up. I was listening at work and I couldn't stop listening. I was actually getting angry at people for coming in to the shop!
That being said, this one was a little bit of a let down. The mystery is good, but I felt myself getting bored in it a lot. Which sucks for a horror book. 

Cover:

I'm not big on this cover, I don't know if it's the illustrations or the colors or what, but I'm just not a fan. 

Story:

So this is based off a real serial killer, one who I didn't know. I won't say who just because I don't want to ruin it. The story itself is sound. It's a good one. It definitely had me guessing and I kind of figured it out before the end but honestly I kept doubting myself. 

Pace: 

I was SO bored. This book was really long and full of unnecessary pages, at least in my opinion. A lot of it could have been edited out and the book still would've had all the information we needed. 

Writing: 

It wasn't bad. I didn't feel like a 12 year old wrote it and I think the author is good at describing what's going on.

Characters: 

I found myself really annoyed with the main character more than once. She was kind of dumb and her decisions just... upset me. 

World building: 

There was enough that I could picture it well enough to read the book, but other than that it wasn't anything spectacular.

Ending: 

I finished it and just kind of felt nothing. It was an okay ending, but the book was just so slow that even the ending didn't save it.

Narrator:

I don't have anything to say about the narrator. 

Overall:

Overall, after reading his other book, I was pretty disappointed in this one. I know he can do better.

Possible books of likeness:

Author's info:

Website

Also writes under the pseudonym Albert Packard.

Bryce Moore is the author of The Perfect Place to Die, The Memory Thief, and Vodník. When he’s not authoring, he’s a librarian in Western Maine. He’s been happily married since 2001 and is doing his best to raise three new geeks of his very own, while simultaneously convincing his wife that sci-fi/fantasy is awesome. He uses his spare time to fix up his old 1841 farmhouse, shovel snow, and pay ridiculous amounts of money feeding his Magic the Gathering addiction.

Favorite Authors: Terry Pratchett, CS Lewis

Favorite Bill Murray Movie: Groundhog Day

Favorite TV Sitcom from Before 1970: The Dick Van Dyke Show

Favorite Monty Python Sketch that Doesn’t Involve a Parrot: The Spanish Inquisition

Favorite Monopoly Token: Dog

Book Review: The Girl Who Knew Too Much by Tiffany Brooks

Title: The Girl Who Knew Too Much

Author: Tiffany Brooks

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Publishing Date: January 4th, 2022

Pages: 352

Audio Length: 9 Hours 24 Mins

Genre: YA Mystery

TW: *Spoiler* Adult male seducing underage girl

Series: Standalone

Source: Audio

What it's about:

You think it's a game? Think again.

High school senior Riley Ozment is desperate to change her reality after making a fool of herself on social media. She needs to do something drastic to repair her social standing—like trying out for a Survivor-style reality TV show. Suddenly, Riley's dropped onto a deserted tropical island with nineteen other teens competing for a million dollars and a rumored treasure lost on the island.

But that treasure has a history: a local curse says that seven people need to die before the treasure can be found. And six hunters have already lost their lives in the search. Now the question is: who will be the seventh?

With a cast of characters who will stop at nothing to win the show, a cursed island setting, and a priceless treasure waiting to be discovered, The Girl Who Knew Too Much pitches readers right into a scheming web of lies, love, and betrayal.

A fast-paced new thriller where allies may not be who they say they are and legends abound!

What I thought:

I was super excited to read this one, I love Survivor and it said it was a mystery thriller which is right up my alley. 

The problem is it wasn't really a thriller. It did have some mystery, it did have a less exciting Goonies feel, and it was similar to Survivor in a way that they get dropped off on an island and they had to complete challenges to win. 

While I was reading this I kind of kept waiting for anything exciting to happen. Nothing ever really did. All of the "twists" weren't very twisty, I wasn't surprised by any of them. And I just really hoped for more from this book.

Cover:

It's an okay cover. I like how dark is it, and it helped me picture her. But it's nothing spectacular.

Story:

The story itself was good. A teenage girl who becomes a meme decides to go on this survivor-esque show to try to find treasure... basically so she can give the treasure to her dad and then she won't be a huge disappointment anymore. I like the idea of it and I wish that it was just more exciting. More holding my breath. 

Pace:

The pace was funky. It was really slow at some points, where nothing really happens. And then it tries to speed up and kinda fails. And then it speeds up for like a few minutes, then nothing.

Writing:

I don't think the author did a good job describing things. People. Settings. I couldn't picture it as I was reading.

Characters:

As I said above, I couldn't picture the characters. And they all kind of blended together. I got them confused and tried to remember who was who. The "romance" in it was also super awkward and seemed forced.

World building:

The world building was awful. I couldn't picture any of it.

Ending:

The ending was nothing spectacular and honestly also felt kind of rushes. I felt very "wait that's it?" by the time I was done.

Narrator:

The narrator did well I think. She was dramatic where she needed to be and she fit the character well. 

Overall:

Overall I was very disappointed and expected a lot more.

Possible books of likeness:

Author's info:

Tiffany Brooks lives in San Francisco with her family and a bunch of pets, who luckily don't object to being featured on her Instagram. The best thing about living on the west coast is she can find out what happens on Game of Thrones three hours ahead of air time. That, plus not having winter weather, means she'll never move back east, although that doesn't stop her New England family from asking when she'll be moving "back home" to NYC or Connecticut. Reality Gold, her debut novel, kicks off the Shifting Reality Collection, a YA trilogy.