A Well-Read Tart

A Food and Book Lover’s Blog

Book Review of THE PERFECT NANNY

The Perfect Nanny would not exist if Myriam and Paul Massé had just bought themselves some nanny cams from the French Home Depot. I'm serious, though I didn't have this realization until I was more than halfway done with the book. If these parents had been a little more invested in their children’s safety, so much could have been revealed, and therefore so much could have been prevented. But, that's part of the problem in this book, isn't...

Book Review of HUNT THEM DOWN

Not gonna lie -- I was completely unexcited when the ARC of Hunt Them Down by Simon Gervais landed on my doorstep. I received the copy on Thanksgiving weekend, and I saw the pub date was scheduled for January 1. While you don’t have to post ARC reviews before the pub date, it’s really nice to do so. I feel like the publishers appreciate it. After all, that’s why you’re getting a copy in advance…to share advance reviews. Presumably...

Book Review of THE WITCH ELM

You guys. This is the second book that I’ve added to my DNF pile in one month. I am not liking this trend. I am sorry to tell you that The Witch Elm by Tana French has the dubious honor of being another book that I will never finish. Which is incredibly disappointing because I had heard such good things about it. There are rave reviews about her previous work, In the Woods, which is part of a series, and The Witch Elm (I believe) is her first...

Book Review of THE CABIN AT THE END OF THE WORLD

What. The. EFF. Is. Going. On…. ?!?!?!?!!?!? This is what replayed in my head as I delved deeper and deeper into Paul Tremblay’s The Cabin at the End of the World. This book is INSANE. In the best possible way. Definitely one of the best books I have read all year. I greedily consumed this novel with the same intensity as I did Bird Box, which I actually finished in one day. Had I had an entire day at my disposal to read The Cabin, I...

Book Review of LYING IN WAIT

Um, the main character in Lying in Wait is batshit crazy. Well, one of the main characters. There are several who are more than a little "off," but the one I’m talking about is Lydia, the woman who tells you within the first few pages that she committed a murder. She relays this information so matter-of-factly, it’s as if she’s telling you what groceries she just picked up from the store. La di da. Bought this, bought that, murdered a...

Quick Look Books: Supernatural Horror for Adults (October 2018)

Welcome to Part 2 of this month's Quick Look Books! I posted recommendations of supernatural horror stories for the YA audience earlier this week, and now it's time to feature some titles for the grown-ups. I'm a connoisseur of spooky stories, and after many years of reading about the paranormal, it's rare that I find books that truly unsettle me. You already know how much I loved (and was terrified by) Ania Ahlborn's The Bird Eater. Here are...