Marielle Davis > Recent Status Updates

I do rather like books that get right into the plot with no dilly-dallying.

Fuck, this damsel in distress plot reads right out of the 1950s. And again this woman is bitching about being hurt in the most beautiful damn place in the world, whining about a life full of shopping, drinking, cocktail parties, and meaningless sex. Awww, poor baby, life must be SO hard for you. -_- I hate this fucking woman as if she was real.

If this was the only story in this thing, I'd stop right here and now.

W O W. 8 pages in and the "protagonist" (I use this word lightly) of the first story is some bitchy white girl who conveniently doesn't work, has her whole pampered life funded by her billionaire gay BFF, has the worst first world problems I've ever seen, AND she managed to insult her future love interest by giving him shit over not being a "real native Hawaiian." THIS is whom I'm supposed to root for???

This romance is heating up a lot faster than I thought it would! Maybe I'm just Boo Boo the Fool but I honestly thought it would take longer to get to the fun smutty portion of the book. Glad it didn't wait though, I'm enjoying the ride.

I like where this is going so far. The author (I'm sure due to her own experience) has a very good grasp on how a neurodivergent mind works! Also the male love interest really does read as being hot as fuck.

Heh. I always love how this book hits the ground running. There's no recapping what came in the books beforehand or anything like that. It expects the reader to have read the first two already and treats the plot accordingly.

Since this book is (co)written by one of my FAVORITE podcasters of all time, I'm eager to see where it will go, and also biased enough to give it some grace if it doesn't really have the best beginning to jump off into a thriller.

We'll see how this goes. Lord knows I could use all the help I can GET when it comes to online dating. But can a book from ten years ago still have relevant info for me here in 2025?

What is going on with this book? I don't know. Where is the plot going? Good question. I feel about as confused as the main character and her alters as to what the mystery here is to be solved. I'm seriously beginning to wonder if it can be wrapped up in a little over 100 pages.

This book gets interesting right out of the gate! I like that!

I've read a lot of John Douglas's stuff on his time working in the Behavioral Analysis Unit, but never one from anyone else, and especially not one from one of the few women that were around at the time. This promises to be an interesting read!

Took a while but I got back to this! Still a wonderful story and so interesting to read it from the perspective of Death, plus the idea he's already told you the end of the tale before it even really started. Yet still it makes you want to read on.

It's not the most subtle with its messages of how bad things were for women back then but I'll give it a pass since it is YA horror. Perhaps gothic horror? I'm not sure yet. But I have a bad feeling one of the twins might not make it out alive given the subject of death and ghosts that looms over the entire book.

Reading this as the first suggestion for a book challenge I have undertaken: read 12 books throughout the year suggested by friends and family!

I wasn't sure what to expect at first, but a book narrated by Death with some nice pithy little asides now and then sure wasn't it. But I like it! Curious to see where the plot goes from here...

Now we're getting into the creepy parts of the book! I think I was mistaken. I expected more outright horror, but rather like the movie Nosferatu I saw this weekend, it's more like a gothic horror atmosphere. It's just with a modern twist. Loving the subtle possession of Isa by Isabella, it's rather haunting!

Are kids today really this obsessed with their Instagram profiles and online popularity??? Man, if this is true, there is no better way to just make me feel OLD!

Alright, we got the spooky vibes starting. Let's see if the story can sustain them. Also, I REALLY hope there's a supernatural explanation for the girl throwing her phone to the floor like a toddler having a temper tantrum. Like, c'mon sweetie, not posting to Instagram every second of your life isn't the end of the world. Grow up. Even for a teen completely absorbed by the social media era, this is melodramatic.

Well, it's a pretty standard YA fare thus far. We'll see how it turns out.

Normally, the "switching between different time periods" thing rarely works in fiction and almost never in non-fiction. Here? It's being done RIGHT! Love learning organically about the library history, the fire, the present-day library, and the possible firestarter.

An interesting true-life tale of a library fire that occurred in Los Angeles. I'm especially interested since I live in Southern California and know exactly where all the things being talked about have happened! The book doesn't take place in a precisely linear fashion, which is an interesting choice given that's not how nonfiction books are usually written.

This reads a bit like a Twilight Zone episode or, for a more contemporary comparison that the book synopsis is quick to point out, Black Mirror. YA horror is always a bit hit or miss with me, because it never seems to go far enough or the kids act like complete morons even for YA protagonists, so we'll see where this leads.

Ah, now we have reached the "girl gets humiliated by forces outside of her control which ultimately help bring her closer to her love interest" portion of the Hallmark movie!

Also, including a puppy in this story was the best idea Debbie Macomber has ever come up with.

A warm, fuzzy book that's like having hot cocoa with some buttery soft cookies.

The usual type of Hallmark movie shenanigans have ensued, including a cute puppy being involved! However, this plot point of Ashley being mistaken for a wanted terrorist is neither cute nor funny, and could have been left out entirely.

Finished off the second and third stories, now onto the fourth and final one! The Jaine Austen one was so good I might have to check out that mystery series. A new cozy mystery series to devour? Merry Christmas to me!

Another Hallmark movie type of tale.....quite literally in this case!

The first story was a Hallmark movie on fast forward but that's what happens when you've only got about 100 pages to tell the whole tale. Onto the second one, which is absolutely adorable and precious. This might be my favorite of the whole short story collection!

Another little Christmas book full of the most fun clichés and warm fuzzy feelings this side of a Hallmark Christmas movie! There's a reason I've kept this book on my bookshelf for years now.

Me, who has seen a thousand Hallmark Christmas movies upon getting into this plot, completely earnest: OMG, a young career doesn't like Christmas! And there's a hot handyman! And an old woman with a bittersweet story about Christmas! WHERE WILL THE PLOT END UP???

Our generic unlucky "everydude" continues to pine over Margot, though I'm beginning to grow a touch impatient. He either needs to grow a few more braincells or just DO something instead of sitting around waiting for clues to fall into his lap.