The Crash by Freida McFadden

 The Crash by Freida McFadden-384 pages

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The nightmare she’s running from is nothing compared to where she’s headed.

Tegan is eight months pregnant, alone, and desperately wants to put her crumbling life in the rearview mirror. So she hits the road, planning to stay with her brother until she can figure out her next move. But she doesn’t realize she’s heading straight into a blizzard.

She never arrives at her destination.

Stranded in rural Maine with a dead car and broken ankle, Tegan worries she’s made a terrible mistake. Then a miracle she is rescued by a couple who offers her a room in their warm cabin until the snow clears.

But something isn’t right. Tegan believed she was waiting out the storm, but as time ticks by, she comes to realize she is in grave danger. This safe haven isn’t what she thought it was, and staying here may have been her most deadly mistake yet.

And now she must do whatever it takes to save herself—and her unborn child.

A gut-wrenching story of motherhood, survival, and twisted expectations, #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden delivers a snowbound thriller that will chill you to the bone.

Thoughts: I liked this one, but maybe not quite as much as some of the others I've read by McFadden. I liked the ending, especially. It's a satisfying wrap-up of the story. Some of the middle is a bit frustrating because of the characters and their motivations and decision-making. I found two of the characters to be pretty annoying at times. I would still recommend this to fans of thrillers and/or Freida McFadden. 

Do You Remember? by Freida McFadden

 

Do You Remember? by Freida McFadden - 334 pages

Tess Strebel can’t recognize her own face.

She can’t recognize her home. Her bedroom is unfamiliar. And she can’t remember the handsome stranger lying next to her in bed. A stranger who claims he’s her husband.

Tess reads a letter in her own handwriting, composed during a rare lucid day, explaining her life as it now exists: She was in a terrible car accident one year ago. Every morning, she wakes up unable to remember most of the last decade. Including her own wedding.

Tess has no choice but to accept her new life and hope her memory will return. After all, why should she doubt the letter she wrote to herself? Or the kind man from the wedding photos on her dresser who seems to genuinely care about her well-being?

And then Tess receives a text message on her phone. One that changes everything:

"Don’t trust the man who calls himself your husband."

Another wonderful, quick read book by this author.  Well done, and as usual, the McFadden twist at the end was fantastic.

What Remains by Helene Dunbar

What Remains by Helene Dunbar - 259 pages

It's alwasys been Cal, Spencer, and Lizzie -- best friends since first grade.  Cal and Spencer have devoted themselves to making sure Lizzie is okay.  Then everything changes in an instant.  Lizzie is dead.  Cal required a heart transplant that takes away his life plan of playing baseball.  Now Cal must figure out how to deal with the loss of Lizzie and the aftereffects of the transplant.

I've now read all of Helene Dunbar's books that have been released.  (Another book comes out later this fall.)  I think this is my favorite of them so far.  While once again it deals with topics that are not happy, this book seems to me to be more optimistic than the others.

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson-344 pages

I started reading this for last month's challenge, but didn't finish it in time. I enjoyed reading this novel about Amy, a teenage girl from California, whose mom has moved across the country to Connecticut to start a new job. Amy's dad died in a car accident with Amy as the driver, so she is not driving at the beginning of the story. Her mom arranges for her to take their Jeep across country from CA to CT with a childhood friend, Roger. Amy and Roger deviate from the prescribed course of travel almost immediately and go on a much longer than anticipated road trip. Each learns some things along the way, and they begin to fall for each other as the trip progresses. Overall, this was a satisfying road trip novel.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul (#9) by Jeff Kinney

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul (#9) by Jeff Kinney-217 pages

I read this for the road trip challenge this month. Greg Heffley and his family (his parents and his brothers Manny and Rodrick) go on a surprise road trip and have many adventures along the way. He and his family go to a water park, stay in several motels, lose keys and other essentials (wallets, credit cards, ids), get in a car accident, and many other things. It is funny to read it from the perspective of a kid and his observations. I like Jeff Kinney's writing and his sneaky inclusion of libraries and a fake book series seemingly inspired by Captain Underpants. I enjoyed reading this short novel about a kid and his family's adventurous road trip.

Denton Little's Deathdate by Lance Rubin

Denton Little's Deathdate by Lance Rubin - 346 pages

Denton Little knows he is going to die.  Everybody knows when they are going to die.  It's just his unfortunate luck that he's going to die early before graduating high school.  Now he just has get through his funeral and his final day of life.

This was promoted as the funniest book about death you'll ever read.  I never actually found the humor in the book.  This is probably because the book is very much geared towards males.  I'm not really into bathroom humor and dirty jokes.  However, I could see where teen boys would really enjoy this book.