Middle of the Night by Riley Sager (2024)Thirty years after his best friend disappeared from their backyard tent, never to be seen again, Ethan is back in his childhood home, and when strange things start happening, he hopes that the police can find out what happened to Billy once and for all. This was a mixed bag for me. I enjoyed what appeared to be the supernatural elements - was Billy really leaving messages for Ethan? And the mysterious nearby Hawthorne Institute - what was going on there, and did it have something to do with Billy's disappearance? The story felt a bit repetitive, though, and the final reveal felt really lacking to me, considering all the side tangents that Sager took with the plot. 3.5 stars
This installment of the Twisted Tales series focuses on Cinderella and imagines what might have happened to her had she never had the opportunity to try on the glass slipper after the ball where she meets the prince. She eventually gains a position in the castle, serving as a maid to the prince's aunt, and she and the prince do find their way back to each other, while trying to stop a plot to overthrow the king. I thought this was an interesting addition to the Cinderella story - there's political intrigue, romance, and, of course, magic. It's always fun to see where the authors in this series take the stories, away from the known and beloved plots. 4 stars
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I have read several of Riley Sager's books and liked them. I own the one you mentioned, but haven't read it yet. He's got a new one coming in June - a train on the cover. And you can imagine what he might do with that - ha!
ReplyDeleteOoh, I just looked up the new book - sounds wild!
DeleteDefinitely a different twist on Cinderella
ReplyDeleteIt's cool how they start off very similar to the movies but then take a very different road!
DeleteI keep wanting to read Riley Sager's newer releases, but then I keep seeing reviews that make me think eh.. maybe not, haha. I'm glad to see you enjoyed So This is Love! I've read a couple of those Twisted Tales ones and I'm always curious to see what the authors do with them, so I may have to pick this one up.
ReplyDeleteI've read three of his books now and they were all 3-4 star reads. So, I'm probably not going to run out and read all his books, but if one catches my eye, I might. The Twisted Tales series is so fun - even the ones based on movies I haven't seen (which actually isn't many, LOL) are great.
DeleteThat twist on the Cinderella story does sound fun and intriguing! And I've been wanting to try a Riley Sager book for a while so I'm sorry to hear this felt a bit repetitive and had a lacking reveal.
ReplyDeleteIt's really fun to see what these authors do with classic Disney tales!
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