The Trail of Ted Bundy

Book received from Netgalley in exchange for honest review.

This was a companion book for author Kevin M. Sullivan's The Bundy Murders. I thought this was an excellent book and helped flesh out who Bundy was. If you are not familiar with Ted Bundy, his crimes, or his victims, it is highly recommended you pass on this until you read the previous book. This book is not a biography or a retelling of his crimes; it's additional information that adds layers to an already notorious killer.

The interviews with Bundy's friends I thought were especially good, because it made Bundy seem like a person that anyone could know. The author describes the places were Bundy lived and the places where he abducted his victims. It was interesting to hear how many of these places haven't changed, and what people have done to change some of the others. 

I do think the author should have left out the lines of "I covered this topic in my other book so I won't repeat it here" (not exact wording but close). I feel like he relied on that line a lot and it could have been left out completely. That being said that is really the only criticism I have about a companion book.

I highly recommend this. The research is impeccable and you know you're reading material from an author that has gone above and beyond to gather information about a subject that he's passionate about.

4/5 stars

Mischling

I was thrilled to read this book when I saw it had finally come out. Although there are so many Holocaust stories already, this one sounded as though it might have a different perspective and be told in a way that would be distinctive. 

Told from the viewpoint of twin sisters arriving in Auschwitz, they become part of the horrendous experimentation's performed by Mengele in Mengele's "zoo". I was prepared to be blown away by an emotional read that had so much hype behind it. 

Unfortunately, I was not. At all. Not only did I have a hard time getting into the story, I found that once I had sort of began to be interested in the characters, I was bored. I felt as though I was reading a story that was a high school creative writing assignment, and the words used were found by a thesaurus. I couldn't take the writing seriously. The characters are little girls, and although they are smart, no one talks like this. The writing had me feel somewhat disconnected: it wasn't believable.I felt as though there was no real story, just a lot of pretty words to fill up the pages.

I admit, I did not finish. It wasn't for me and I was too put off by the too flowery language and lack of a plot. Maybe if I had stuck with it the ending would have made up for what I felt I was missing, but I don't think so. I hardly ever stop reading a book.It's like a mission for me: once I start I cannot stop unless it's a dire circumstance. 

I felt this was the case.

I was pretty disappointed in this book. As far as I'm concerned it's not worth the praise it's been receiving. 

2/5 stars

So Little Time!

I'm reading 3 books right now....while attending law school. I don't know what I was thinking! But the books I'm reading provide an escape for awhile; it's just hard to read them as quickly as I would like.
My TBR pile is getting bigger as well if that's possible. I hope I make a dent in it someday!

Netgalley

I found Netgalley through Goodreads, and decided to sign up. I'm so glad I did! 

And the Trees Crept In

Where to begin?!
I had a hard time tracking this book down, and I finally found it on the library site. I flipped through it, and I was instantly put off by the writing style. There are pages of notebook entries (which I don't like in books), and words that are in rather large print in random places. Based on the formatting alone, I put it at the bottom of the TBR pile.
The due date was coming up in 3 days when I finally decided I should go ahead and try to read it.
I should have read it as soon as I got it. I couldn't put it down. It took me 2 days to read it and I loved the story. It was creepy, but also very sad.
Silla and Nori runaway from their abusive home to La Baume; their mother's childhood home where her sister, Aunt Cath, now lives. At first everything is sunny and happy, but of course that doesn't last long. Aunt Cath's sanity is questionable, and Silla starts to question her own when the garden begins dying and she swears the trees in the woods are moving closer to the manor. Then a strange boy appears seemingly out of nowhere, and Silla's narrative becomes questionable as her focus is to protect her sister Nori from the demons in the house--especially the Creeper Man, a long shadow figure with no eyes and a horrible smile.
The story becomes very odd and unstable honestly before it wraps back around and makes any sense. It is written so vividly that I can't help but wonder if that is how one acts if they are truly going mad.
Anyone who enjoys horror will be enthralled in this book. The descriptions of the Creeper Man made chills go down my back and I found myself looking around my house. Little noises made me jump when I was reading, and books do not do that to me often!

4/5 stars for me...and my issues are with the formatting of the book, not the story itself.