Isabella's Reading Corner: The Vanishing Deep

The Vanishing Deep

Author: Astrid Scholte

Publication Date: March 3, 2020

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

Five hundred years ago, the Great Waves destroyed the cities and submerged them beneath the ocean. The inhabitants of the world have learned to live on water. On Palindromena, one of the few islands that exists, the dead can be resurrected for only twenty-four hours. Tempe is desperate to bring her sister Elysea back to life, but her reasons have nothing to do with love or affection. She wants answers surrounding the death of her parents that she can only get from her sister - secrets Elysea took with her to a watery grave. 

Lor lives at the Palindromena facility. He is riddled with guilt for believing he caused the death of his best friend and has firsthand knowledge of the emotional toll bringing back the deceased has on loved ones. Lor secludes himself away in the Aquarium, the facility’s basement where the bodies of the dead are stored awaiting resurrection. When Tempe arrives at the island their lives intersect and the story really begins. After Elysea is revived, she convinces Tempe to help her escape and together they try to discover what really happened to their parents. But a lot is at stake and Lor, along with Raylan, an employee of Palindromena, need to find them and bring them back before Elysea’s 24 hours are up.

The author brings her characters to life utilizing Tempe’s memories to enhance her sorrow for the past and for the sisterly bond she and Elysea once shared. Tempe is relatable not through her experiences, but by the emotions she conveys and her motivations are understandable. Lor is very different in disposition to Tempe, but equally strong and determined. 

Astrid Scholte is a wonderfully descriptive writer. She constructs a fantastical world that is both immersive and believable. Each chapter is introduced with a countdown clock, increasing the tension and suspense. The Vanishing Deep is a thrilling adventure with twists galore in a uniquely dystopian setting.

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada and Penguin Teen Canada for the advanced copy provided for review.

From the publisher:

Bestselling author Astrid Scholte, returns with a thrilling adventure in which the dead can be revived...for a price.

Seventeen-year-old Tempe was born into a world of water. When the Great Waves destroyed her planet five hundred years ago, its people had to learn to survive living on the water, but the ruins of the cities below still called. Tempe dives daily, scavenging the ruins of a bygone era, searching for anything of value to trade for Notes. It isn't food or clothing that she wants to buy, but her dead sister's life. For a price, the research facility on the island of Palindromena will revive the dearly departed for twenty-four hours before returning them to death. It isn't a heartfelt reunion that Tempe is after; she wants answers. Elysea died keeping a terrible secret, one that has ignited an unquenchable fury in Tempe: Her beloved sister was responsible for the death of their parents. Tempe wants to know why.

But once revived, Elysea has other plans. She doesn't want to spend her last day in a cold room accounting for a crime she insists she didn't commit. Elysea wants her freedom and one final glimpse at the life that was stolen from her. She persuades Tempe to break her out of the facility, and they embark on a dangerous journey to discover the truth about their parents' death and mend their broken bond. But they're pursued every step of the way by two Palindromena employees desperate to find them before Elysea's time is up--and before the secret behind the revival process and the true cost of restored life is revealed.

You can read my original Isabella's Reading Corner post on The Vanishing Deep here.

Isabella's Reading Corner: The Last Confession of Autumn Casterly

The Last Confession of Autumn Casterly

Author: Meredith Tate

Publication Date: February 11, 2020

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

Ivy and Autumn are sisters, but they couldn’t be more different. Ivy, a self-proclaimed ‘band geek’, enjoys nothing more than hanging out with her friends playing board games. Autumn on the other hand keeps everyone at a distance, including her family. She is also not above selling drugs and theft. She’s complicated and has her own reasons for the way she behaves and doing what she does. 

The sisters were once close, but those days are long since past. Through an extreme error in judgement Autumn is beaten, kidnapped and near death. Unable to physically move, she discovers she can mentally leave her broken body and the only person who can sense her is Ivy. Will the bond she and her sister once shared be enough to save Autumn in time?

The book is told through both Ivy and Autumn’s viewpoints. Autumn is a mysterious character. She has secrets and an unusual outlook on her life and family which makes it difficult initially to feel empathy for her. I enjoyed reading about Ivy and the struggles she experienced as a teen, which enhances rather than detracts from Autumn’s story.

The Last Confession of Autumn Casterly is a highly suspenseful and compelling thriller. It is also heartbreaking as it delves into some deep and serious issues. I read it very quickly - I couldn’t wait to find out if Autumn would be found in time as well as if the intricate relationships within her family would alter as a result.

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada and Penguin Teen Canada for the advanced copy provided for review.

From the publisher:

If I Stay meets One of Us is Lying in this gripping contemporary thriller.

When band-geek Ivy and her friends get together, things start with a rousing board game and end with arguments about Star Wars.

Her older sister Autumn is a different story. Enigmatic, aloof, and tough as nails, Autumn hasn't had real friends--or trusted anyone--in years. Even Ivy.

But Autumn might not be tough enough. After a drug deal gone wrong, Autumn is beaten, bound, and held hostage. Now, trapped between life and death, she leaves her body, seeking help. No one can sense her presence--except her sister.

When Autumn doesn't come home, Ivy just knows she's in trouble. Unable to escape the chilling feeling that something isn't right, Ivy follows a string of clues that bring her closer to rescuing her sister... and closer to danger.

Autumn needs Ivy to find her before time runs out. But soon, both sisters realize that finding her also means untangling the secrets that lead to the truth--about where they're hiding Autumn, and what Autumn has been hiding.

You can read my original Isabella's Reading Corner post on The Last Confession of Autumn Casterly here.

Isabella's Reading Corner: Elevator Pitch

Elevator Pitch

Author: Linwood Barclay

Publication Date: September 17, 2019

Publisher: Doubleday Canada/William Morrow

A series of seemingly random freak accidents are taking place in Manhattan. It soon becomes apparent that these horrifyingly tragic occurrences are deliberate attacks by someone who is determined to terrorize the city! I have a phobia of elevators so I was petrified by the premise alone.

This is an extremely fast-paced suspense novel with an array of multi-faceted characters and an intriguing story. I’ve been a fan of Linwood Barclay’s novels for many years now and Elevator Pitch is hands down one of my favourites. My suggestion is you set aside a good amount of undisturbed reading time for this book as once you pick it up, you won’t want to put it down until you’ve finished the last page!

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for the copy provided for review.

From the publisher:

The New York Times bestselling author of A Noise Downstairs and No Time for Goodbye returns with an edge-of-your-seat thriller that does for elevators what Psycho did for showers and Jaws did for the beach—a heart-pounding tale in which a series of disasters paralyzes New York City with fear.

It all begins on a Monday, when four people board an elevator in a Manhattan office tower. Each presses a button for their floor, but the elevator proceeds, non-stop, to the top. Once there, it stops for a few seconds, and then plummets.

Right to the bottom of the shaft.

It appears to be a horrific, random tragedy. But then, on Tuesday, it happens again, in a different Manhattan skyscraper. And when Wednesday brings yet another high-rise catastrophe, one of the most vertical cities in the world—and the nation’s capital of media, finance, and entertainment—is plunged into chaos.

Clearly, this is anything but random. This is a cold, calculated bid to terrorize the city. And it’s working. Fearing for their lives, thousands of men in women working in offices across the city refuse to leave their homes. Commerce has slowed to a trickle. Emergency calls to the top floors of apartment buildings go unanswered.

Who is behind this? Why are they doing it? What do these deadly acts of sabotage have to do with the fingerless body found on the High Line? Two seasoned New York detectives and a straight-shooting journalist must race against time to find the answers before the city’s newest, and tallest, residential tower has its ribbon-cutting on Thursday.

With each diabolical twist, Linwood Barclay ratchets up the suspense, building to a shattering finale. Pulsating with tension, Elevator Pitch is a riveting tale of psychological suspense that is all too plausible . . . and will chill readers to the bone. 

You can read my original Isabella's Reading Corner post on Elevator Pitch here.

Isabella's Reading Corner: The Family Upstairs

The Family Upstairs

Author: Lisa Jewell

Publication Date: November 5, 2019

Publisher: Atria Books

The Family Upstairs, the latest domestic thriller by Lisa Jewell, is a sinister story told through multiple perspectives and varying timelines. There are quite a few characters to keep track of initially, but it comes together quickly. Spine-tingling and filled with lots of dark secrets and craziness, this book mesmerized me, and I couldn’t put it down!

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for the copy provided for review.

From the publisher:

Be careful who you let in. 

Soon after her twenty-fifth birthday, Libby Jones returns home from work to find the letter she’s been waiting for her entire life. She rips it open with one driving thought: I am finally going to know who I am. 

She soon learns not only the identity of her birth parents, but also that she is the sole inheritor of their abandoned mansion on the banks of the Thames in London’s fashionable Chelsea neighborhood, worth millions. Everything in Libby’s life is about to change. But what she can’t possibly know is that others have been waiting for this day as well—and she is on a collision course to meet them. 

Twenty-five years ago, police were called to 16 Cheyne Walk with reports of a baby crying. When they arrived, they found a healthy ten-month-old happily cooing in her crib in the bedroom. Downstairs in the kitchen lay three dead bodies, all dressed in black, next to a hastily scrawled note. And the four other children reported to live at Cheyne Walk were gone. 

In The Family Upstairs, the master of “bone-chilling suspense” (People) brings us the can’t-look-away story of three entangled families living in a house with the darkest of secrets.

You can read my original Isabella's Reading Corner post on The Family Upstairs here.

Isabella's Reading Corner: The Perfect Wife

The Perfect Wife

Author: JP Delaney

Publication Date: August 6, 2019

Publisher: Ballantine Books

The Perfect Wife has an original premise and is chock full of surprises! It’s an unusual, compelling novel and a disturbing spin on the psychological thriller genre.

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for the copy provided for review.

From the publisher:

Abbie awakens in a daze with no memory of who she is or how she landed in this unsettling condition. The man by her side claims to be her husband. He’s a titan of the tech world, the founder of one of Silicon Valley’s most innovative start-ups. He tells Abbie that she is a gifted artist, an avid surfer, a loving mother to their young son, and the perfect wife. He says she had a terrible accident five years ago and that, through a huge technological breakthrough, she has been brought back from the abyss.

She is a miracle of science. 

But as Abbie pieces together memories of her marriage, she begins to question her husband’s motives—and his version of events. Can she trust him when he says he wants them to be together forever? And what really happened to her, half a decade ago?

Beware the man who calls you . . .

You can read my original Isabella's Reading Corner post on The Perfect Wife here.