Fierce Kingdom

Riley Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips

Tagline:  When an ordinary day at the zoo turns into a nightmare, Joan finds herself trapped with her beloved 4 year old son. 

My thoughts: When I read the description for Fierce Kingdom I was really looking forward to reading it because it sounded like it was going to be an intense read.  Don't get me wrong, it was, but the pacing felt inconsistent.  It seemed to drag in the beginning but thankfully picked back up midway through and kept me hooked until the end.  

Something I really enjoyed about this book was that it was told in actual time, with a time stamp at the beginning of each chapter, that small touch made the story feel that much more real to me.  I couldn't believe all that action could be packed into just a few short hours, but to the people living the nightmare it must have felt like an eternity.  At times I found Joan a little frustrating,  but to be fair I can't say how well I'd be able to hold it together in a terrifying situation such as the one she and her son found themselves in. 

I always romanticize about being able to finish a book in one sitting, but I never have enough patience for it.  I'm fairly confident I could have finished Fierce Kingdom in one day, had I not started it so late at night.  Sleep got the best of me, but as soon as I woke the book was back in my hands I didn't set it down again until I finished.  This is a book that really draws you in, grabs a hold of you and refuses to let go.  I'm sure I'll be thinking about this book for days to come.  

Rating: 3.5/5

Final Girls

Final Girls by Riley Sager

Plot: Ten years ago, college student Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with five friends and came back alone, the only survivor of a horror movie–scale massacre. In an instant, she became a member of a club no one wants to belong to—a group of similar survivors known in the press as the Final Girls. 

Now, with the help of her Xanax prescription and no memory of the events that happened ten years ago Quincy is doing well.  That is until Lisa, the first Final Girl, is found dead in her bathtub, wrists slit, and Sam, the second, appears on Quincy's doorstep.

My thoughts:  From the first page this book draws you in, opening with Quincy running through the forest, soaked with blood, after surviving the Pine Cottage murders.  The story is told from Quincy's point of view and is interspersed with present day and memories of Pine Cottage, little snippets making the suspense of finding out what happened all those years ago even stronger.   Without giving too much away, Riley Sager did a great job at making me go from despising certain characters and sympathizing them within a moment's notice, and vice versa.  Just when I think I have the mystery solved a new wrench is thrown in the works and my mind is left spinning, trying to add new information to the equation.  The plot never quite goes the way you expect it to and, if you like fast paced novels with plenty of action and good characters, you'll definitely enjoy this.

Rating: 4.5/5