My Languishing TBR: U #AtoZChallenge2023 #Books #BookReviews

U is for Unspeakable

I’m doing folklore and book review posts to reach and please a larger audience. Previous years have shown select interest in both and to minimise blogging throughout the year, I’m focusing my efforts on April.

Focusing on an A to Z of my TBR (to be read) list, each letter will have books starting with that letter on my list, a book I’ve read and reviewed (with the review!) and one of my books matching the letter with a link about more info about the book (I’ve published some new books, so take a look).

I chose the books this year quite randomly from my Goodreads Want to Read page. Some are quite creatively added to letters.

I know there were suggestions in last year’s Reflection post that I skip my TBR and just get on with the review, but I like knowing what I have left to read for each letter (and how far I’ve come with all the reading challenges I’ve done) so things are staying the same. Scroll down to the reviews if you’re not interested in what my TBR still contains. FYI, you might encounter issues with commenting if you don’t tick all the boxes marked as mandatory (especially the privacy one).

Let the fun begin!

If you’d rather check out my folklore post for today, go here.

My TBR

About the Book I’ve Read

Unspeakable Things by Jess Lourey

Inspired by a terrifying true story from the author’s hometown, a heart-pounding novel of suspense about a small Minnesota community where nothing is as quiet—or as safe—as it seems.

Cassie McDowell’s life in 1980s Minnesota seems perfectly wholesome. She lives on a farm, loves school, and has a crush on the nicest boy in class. Yes, there are her parents’ strange parties and their parade of deviant guests, but she’s grown accustomed to them.

All that changes when someone comes hunting in Lilydale.

One by one, local boys go missing. One by one, they return changed—violent, moody, and withdrawn. What happened to them becomes the stuff of shocking rumors. The accusations of who’s responsible grow just as wild, and dangerous town secrets start to surface. Then Cassie’s own sister undergoes the dark change. If she is to survive, Cassie must find her way in an adult world where every sin is justified, and only the truth is unforgivable. 

Check it out on Goodreads.

My Review

Who says living in a small town is idyllic? After reading this book, you’d rather live in the city where there are places to run and hide…

A dark, unsettling thriller about a thirteen-year-old girl living in a town of creeps – her father being one of them. No-one listens when she says she doesn’t feel safe at home, least of all her mother who takes part in the orgies held at their house masquerading as parties. But when teenage boys are being sexually assaulted and hunted in town, everyone takes notice. Yet, just enough to say the boys are looking for attention and that there should be a curfew. Until the son of a dentist goes missing. State police swoop down on the town, but they are looking in all the wrong places. Only Cassie is brave enough to put the pieces together and to go look for clues even the police are too timid to do.

Menace lurks on every page and I had to make time while the sun shone to read it instead of just before bed – too many nightmares! Well-written and casting light on the unspeakable things a lot of adults pretend to not notice happening right under their noses.

Trigger warning: abusive parents (in many ways), police bullying, harmful LGBTQ profiling of suspects, child abduction, sexual assault and fear of sexual assault (the latter mostly Cassie’s fear).

My Book

Unseen

I hope you enjoyed this. For more books I’ve read and reviewed, check out either my Pinterest board about reviews or my Goodreads profile. Alternatively, you can check out my reviews on BookBub. Have you read any of the books? Loved or hated any of them?

You can now support my time in producing book review posts (buying books, reading, writing reviews and everything else involved) by buying me a coffee. This can be a once-off thing, or you can buy me coffee again in the future at your discretion.

*FYI, my reviews are my honest opinion and if something bothers me, I tell it straight. How else will anything change? My opinions are based on being a voracious reader and book buyer, not an attack on the author.*

*If you have difficulty commenting, check that you’ve ticked the data use block beneath the comment before leaving your comment. (Protecting your privacy per regulations.) If you’re still unable to comment, try enabling all cookies in your browser. On a device, like a tablet, go to settings, find your browser (eg Chrome), and uncheck “prevent cross-site tracking” AND “block all cookies.”