Lia Anshar's Honest Pages

  Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5) "There is no possible way you could know the truth. There’s no way you could ever guess that the killer is actually Steve. Wait. Oh, crap." Alice's husband, Grant, is dead. She's literally standing at her husband’s funeral, watching his casket being lowered into the ground. So, why does she keep seeing his face everywhere she goes? What exactly was Grant hiding, and is he really as gone as everyone believes? This is the most absurd thriller I have ever read, and I loved every second of it! Freida McFadden doesn’t follow the usual thriller formula here. Yes, this book is packed with plot twists, but not the kind you expect from thriller books. Instead, the surprises come with a sharp, satirical edge. You’ll find yourself pausing and thinking, “Wait, is this actually happening?” It keeps you off-balance in the best way possible. And here’s the thing, I’ve heard of musicians writing songs for their haters, and I honestly feel like this author wrote...

  Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5) "‘It’s not true!’ I say again. It may not be completely true, but it is a little true." Just One Bite by Miranda Rijks is a story about celebrity chef Brittany Cole who seems to have the perfect life: fame, success, and a lovely family. But everything falls apart when a clip of her shouting at her four‑year‑old goes viral. Before long, more “proof” surfaces showing her mistreating her daughter, and #bitchmom is everywhere. Brittany knows those videos aren’t real at all. Then someone close to her gets murdered, she suddenly has to navigate tough questions from the police.  Even though I hadn't read Miranda Rijks' books before, I realized she's a famous thriller author, so I was excited when I got the ARC. Maybe I got my expectations too high, but this book didn't impress me.  First, I think the story is dragging on too much because of the deepfake videos. I think it would be much better if the author played with this more and made the reader...

  Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5) Genre: YA, Horror Type: Audiobook Published: June 6, 2026 In this story, we meet Quinn Carpenter who is already having the worst day ever, she just got publicly humiliated at school and feels like hiding forever. But her best friend Kirsten won’t let her wallow; instead, she drags Quinn to Meadow Spire Mall for a refreshing and a little payback plan. Too bad their problems are only just starting. A brutal winter storm slams into town, locking everyone inside. Lights start flickering, people vanish, and something old and terrifying that’s been buried under the mall for decades is finally waking up. This is my first interactive audiobook and I love it! You actually get to make choices that change the story, even though I kept picking the wrong options and nearly “died” so many times I just stopped stressing and went with the flow, LOL. It starts a little slow while setting the scene and building tension, but once things get into action, it becomes great. It’s cre...

  Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5) Format: 92 pages, Kindle Edition Published: December 14, 2021 by Montlake Genre: Romance, Adult Fiction After one year of being divorced, Cooper Chance's parents show up to be his “wingmen” and try to kickstart his love life again. At first, he’s pretty skeptical until he meets Nora McHale. Nora, who is focusing on running her bakery, is definitely not looking to meet someone, especially not her best friend's ex-husband! But one fun, flirty night later, neither of them can deny how crazy the attraction is between them. I loved it. It’s such a sweet, funny, and romantic novella. This is not a standalone. It’s actually a prequel to The Reunion, which I honestly didn’t know when I started reading. I’m definitely picking up the next book ASAP because being left with a cliffhanger ending wasn't fun at all! I totally ship this couple. Their chemistry is equal parts fiery and sweet. But honestly, the real scene‑stealers for me were their parents. They brought...

  Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5) “'You see,' he went on, 'I have something to discuss with you – something that may seem… well, it may seem like fate.'" The Clock House Murder by Yukito Ayatsuji is set in the eerie, isolated Clock House, packed full of rare and valuable clocks from all over the globe. Locals say it’s haunted by the ghost of a young girl who died there, so a group of ghost hunters decides to visit it. But their investigation takes a deadly turn almost immediately when one of them is killed and they’re trapped inside with a murderer on the loose. As the body count rises one by one, it’s up to Detective Shimada Kiyoshi to untangle the secrets of the house before everyone meets the same fate. When the cover says "the classic Japanese locked room mystery", I thought it would just have the same theme or same vibe, but it turned out to be exactly that kind of story. I spent my childhood watching Detective Conan, and that was exactly how every episode was go...

  Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5) If you read and loved Milford's book, Greenglass House, you know what to expect: rich atmosphere and mysteries with a touch of wonder that pulls you right in. That’s exactly what I hoped for when I picked up Rialto and what I got was... something very different.  The story follows sisters Ivy and Dahlia Vicar, who travel to Rialto, Missouri, for a summer visit. Twelve-year-old Dahlia is an artist who lives with anxiety, and she’s eager for a change of scenery. Fourteen-year-old Ivy loves mysteries, but she’s struggling to figure out how to be a good big sister lately, and she misses the carefree vacations they used to have when they were small.  Rialto sounds like the perfect place for adventure: it sits in the middle of a strange forest and there’s even an abandoned theme park that feels like it’s full of secrets.  Here’s the thing, the blurb and the cover make this sound like a magical, theme park-centered mystery. But that’s not what this book ...

  Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5) "I watched you pick live insects off their glassy walls, hold them in the palm of your hand, pull off their limbs, crush them between your fingers." If you love psychological thrillers that play with your mind and make you question every character’s motive, Roofboy by Jess Blatchley is definitely for you. This novel centers on Sasha Marsh, a mother living a quiet life in Cotswold village, who will do anything to make sure her seven-year-old son, Gabriel, grows up happy, safe, and healthy. To everyone around her, Sasha seems overly cautious, even overprotective. People think that her behavior comes from deep trauma: she spent years living with a man she describes as a psychopath, and even after they separated, he didn’t leave them alone. In a terrifying incident when Gabriel was still a baby, her ex-husband kidnapped him. Given that history, it’s easy to understand why Sasha is so guarded, or is it? Here’s the twist no one sees coming: Sasha isn’t just tr...