The Tenant by Freida McFadden

 

The Tenant by Freida McFadden, 368 pages, ⭐⭐

Blake Porter is riding high, until he's not. Fired abruptly from his job as a VP of marketing and unable to make the mortgage payments on the new brownstone that he shares with his fiancee, he's desperate to make ends meet.

Enter Whitney. Beautiful, charming, down-to-earth, and looking for a room to rent. She's exactly what Blake's looking for. Or is she?

Because something isn't quite right. The neighbors start treating Blake differently. The smell of decay permeates his home, no matter how hard he scrubs. Strange noises jar him awake in the middle of the night. And soon Blake fears someone knows his darkest secrets...

Danger lives right at home, and by the time Blake realizes it, it'll be far too late. The trap is already set.

Golden Son by Pierce Brown

 

Golden Son by Pierce Brown, 466 pages, ⭐⭐⭐⭐

As a Red, Darrow grew up working the mines deep beneath the surface of Mars, enduring backbreaking labor while dreaming of the better future he was building for his descendants. But the Society he faithfully served was built on lies. Darrow’s kind have been betrayed and denied by their elitist masters, the Golds—and their only path to liberation is revolution. And so Darrow sacrifices himself in the name of the greater good for which Eo, his true love and inspiration, laid down her own life. He becomes a Gold, infiltrating their privileged realm so that he can destroy it from within.

A lamb among wolves in a cruel world, Darrow finds friendship, respect, and even love—but also the wrath of powerful rivals. To wage and win the war that will change humankind’s destiny, Darrow must confront the treachery arrayed against him, overcome his all-too-human desire for retribution—and strive not for violent revolt but a hopeful rebirth. Though the road ahead is fraught with danger and deceit, Darrow must choose to follow Eo’s principles of love and justice to free his people.

He must live for more.

How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates by Shailee Thompson

How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates by Shailee Thompson -- 368 pages

When Jamie Prescott and her best friend Laurie attend a speed-dating event, Jamie expects to meet a roster of mediocre men and indulge in some street food afterwards. She doesn’t expect one of her dates to have his throat slit at their table during a blackout. When the lights come back on and there are more bodies on the floor, it becomes clear that speed dating can be a very dangerous pastime.

Armed with makeshift weapons and Jamie’s extensive knowledge of what NOT to do in a horror movie, the remaining speed daters try to find an exit while the killer adds to their body count. As the night progresses and Jamie comes face-to-mask with the murderer, she begins to suspect he is committing the slayings to woo one of the daters and turn her into his real-life Final Girl. But Jamie has a different love story in mind, and as she fights for her life, she can’t help but find herself ensconced in a love triangle with two of the other speed-daters. Will she survive the bloodshed to find her happily ever after? Or does this machete-wielding psychopath have another Final Girl in mind?

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

 Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh (438 Pages)

Summary: While we live, the enemy shall fear us. Since she was born, Kyr has trained for the day she can avenge the murder of planet Earth. Raised in the bowels of Gaea Station alongside the last scraps of humanity, she readies herself to face the Wisdom, the powerful, reality-shaping weapon that gave the Majoda their victory over humanity. They are what's left. They are what must survive. Kyr is one of the best warriors of her generation, the sword of a dead planet. When Command assigns her brother to certain death and relegates her to Nursery to bear sons until she dies trying, she knows she must take humanity's revenge into her own hands. Alongside her brother's brilliant but seditious friend and a lonely, captive alien, Kyr escapes from everything she's known into a universe far more complicated than she was taught and far more wondrous than she could have imagined. 

Opinion: I don't have the words to describe how much I loved this book. If you like action, sci-fi, or dystopian reads, I would highly recommend. This book is like the Hunger Games meets the Illuminae Files meets the Star Trek universe. With all that being said, this book has heavy themes that can be triggers such as sexual assault, rape, abuse, and genocide. My only true critique of this book is that I wish there was more of an epilogue for the reader to see how some of the side storylines ended up, but perhaps I just want more of this world. 

Tales from the St. Louis Blues Locker Room: A Collection of the Greatest Blues Stories Ever Told by Bob Plager & Tom Wheatley

 

Tales from the St. Louis Blues Locker Room: A Collection of the Greatest Blues Stories Ever Told by Bob Plager & Tom Wheatley - 204 pages

Nobody bleeds Blue like Bob Plager, considered one of the funniest men in hockey. This rollicking book details Plager’s romance with the Bluenotes from day one in 1967 to the present day. He was an original Blues player, a rugged defenseman whose specialty was the hip check. He remains an original personality and a good-humored man whose specialty is now the quick quip. As a master storyteller, Plager packs Tales from the St. Louis Blues Locker Room with insights from every level of the hockey rink. He chronicles the puzzling mind games of a young Scotty Bowman, the quirky coach whose legend began with the original Blues. In those old-school days, Plager learned memorable lessons from veterans like Al Arbour, Doug Harvey, Glenn Hall, Dickie Moore, and Jacques Plante, all future Hall of Famers. The early years also brought the three Plager brothers—Bob, Barclay, and Billy—together in St. Louis. Bob played long enough to help break in two Western Canadian kids, future captain Brian Sutter and future Hall of Famer Bernie Federko. Plager later coached a new generation of stars in St. Louis, players like Brett Hull, Brendan Shanahan, and Curtis Joseph. The tears and the cheers, the fun and the frustration—it is all found in Tales from the St. Louis Blues Locker Room.

This was ok, the stories were a bit dry for my taste, however, it was interesting reading about the behind the scenes of hockey.  

Ultimate X-Men Vol. 2: Children of the Atom by Peach Momoko

Ultimate X-Men Vol. 2: Children of the Atom by Peach Momoko

Ultimate X-Men (2024) #7-12, 144 pages

⭐⭐⭐.5/5

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Meet the mutants' new mentor, Psylocke! After recent climactic events and the surprise new teammate they found, Mei, Hisako, Nico and the mutants need some guidance! Fortunately, the mysterious Kanon is an older student with a surprising amount of expertise! But bigger questions What exactly are mutants? Where do they come from? And how has the Maker's Council been keeping them under control? All these secrets start to unravel as our heroes investigate a murder that, for some reason, the authorities keep covering up! Meanwhile, Shadow King advances his sinister plots! Maystorm and Surge are on a collision course! Viper enters the stage after a mass raid on the cult known as the Children of the Atom! And a seismic confrontation is coming!

Total Shutdown by Ruth Stilling

Total Shutdown by Ruth Stilling -- 340 pages

The plan was simple: just me, my boy and hockey. I’m the unapproachable NHL captain with a reputation for chewing up reporters in interviews, forwards on the ice and shutting down anyone who tries to get close to me. And that’s how I like it—no feelings, no complications, and zero chance of reliving the grief I experienced when my wife passed away seven years ago. But sometimes the best laid plans go up in flames, and that’s exactly what Collins Mackenzie does when strolls into a bar one post-game night and gives me a taste of the cold shoulder I’ve bestowed on all those around me. The only person she doesn’t dismiss? My boy. In fact, she lights him up with her pink hair and perfectly winged eyeliner, leaving him fascinated and me infatuated. There’s only one problem: she’s nine years younger, convinced I’m not her type and doesn’t do relationships. She doesn’t even hang around in the same city beyond a few months. Trouble is, I want her permanence right next to me—on the couch watching movies and in my bed on lazy mornings. I’m ready to chase her, no matter where she goes or how quickly she hits the accelerator. This girl is a ride I never want to get off.