Happy Halloween, sitting here...and not getting a single trick or treater, we never have since I lived here (busy road). 

I finished fewer books this month than I have with previous months, but I didn't too bad with 13.  I also managed to pull off a black-out on Halloween Bingo.  So yay me.  Again, most of my read books are technically Audiobooks, so hey, what can I say?  I really like them.  I had some decent books for the month, but I'm still feeling disappointed by The Darkest Star...I was really excited about it when I got approved for it on Netgalley.

(Audiobook) Alice by Christina Henry

Finish Date:  10/01/18

☆3.5☆STARS - GRADE=B-

(Audiobook) Evertrue by Brodi Ashton

Finish Date:  10/04

☆3.5☆STARS - GRADE=B-

(Netgalley eARC) An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen

Finish Date:  10/08

☆4.5☆STARS - GRADE=A-

(Audiobook) Winterblaze by Kristen Callihan

Finish Date:  10/09

☆4☆STARS - GRADE=B

(Audiobook) Archangel's Consort by Nalini Singh

Finish Date:  10/11

☆3.5☆STARS - GRADE=B-

(Audiobook) Wayward by Blake Crouch

Finish Date:  10/13

☆4.7☆STARS - GRADE=A

(Audiobook) Pack by Mike Bockoven

Finish Date:  10/15

☆3.3☆STARS - GRADE=B-

(Audiobook) The Last Town by Blake Crouch

Finish Date:  10/16

☆4.7☆STARS - GRADE=A

(Audiobook) When We Caught Fire by Anna Godbersen

Finish Date:  10/19

☆4.2☆STARS - GRADE=B+

(Audiobook) I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

Finish Date:  10/22

☆4.7☆STARS - GRADE=A

(Audiobook) Seeds of Iniquity by JA Redmerski

Finish Date:  10/23

☆4☆STARS - GRADE=B+

(Netgalley eARC) The Darkest Star by Jennifer L Armentrout

Finish Date:  10/27

☆2.7☆STARS - GRADE=C-

(Audiobook) Give the Dark My Love by Beth Revis

Finish Date:  10/29

☆4.2☆STARS - GRADE=B+

11 Audiobooks and 2 eARC's and I also, unfortunately, had one DNF...

My choice for the best cover of the month is...a tie between these two covers:

and...

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~BOOK BLURB~

An Anonymous Girl

Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen

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Seeking women ages 18–32 to participate in a study on ethics and morality. Generous compensation. Anonymity guaranteed.

When Jessica Farris signs up for a psychology study conducted by the mysterious Dr. Shields, she thinks all she’ll have to do is answer a few questions, collect her money, and leave. But as the questions grow more and more intense and invasive and the sessions become outings where Jess is told what to wear and how to act, she begins to feel as though Dr. Shields may know what she’s thinking…and what she’s hiding. As Jess’s paranoia grows, it becomes clear that she can no longer trust what in her life is real, and what is one of Dr. Shields’ manipulative experiments. Caught in a web of deceit and jealousy, Jess quickly learns that some obsessions can be deadly.

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~MY QUICKIE REVIEW~

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This was slow-building psychological suspense…that didn't have me hooked until the last 1/3 of the book.  At that point, everything starting clicking together and then...the sh*t hit-the-fan.  I have to say…I thought this was going to disappoint me just like The Wife Between Us did, but by the end, I was pleasantly surprised.

An Anonymous Girl is a smartly written and cleverly plotted novel.  With decidedly flawed characters and an interesting storyline.  I recommend to anyone who likes a slow build-up to an intense ending.  Sadly though, you may have to wait until it comes out in January 2019.

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~MY RATING~

☆4.5☆STARS - GRADE=A-

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~BREAKDOWN OF RATINGS~

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Plot~ 4.5/5

Main Characters~ 4.5/5

Secondary Characters~ 4/5

The Feels~ 4.3/5

Pacing~ 4.3/5

Addictiveness~ 4/5

Theme or Tone~ 5/5

Flow (Writing Style)~ 4.2/5

Backdrop (World Building)~ 4/5

Originality~ 5/5

Ending~ 4.7/5

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Book Cover~ It's nothing special…

Setting~ New York City

Source~ I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

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I used this for Genre: Suspense Square in Halloween Bingo 2018

An Anonymous Girl a collaborative effort by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, is due for release in early 2019.  It is an interesting and nicely-paced thriller with some unfortunate credibility issues.  The story is told in alternating points of view, beginning with protagonist Jessica Ferris, a young woman barely getting by as a contract make-up artist in New York City.  In first-person narration, Jess describes her turning away from friends and a potential career in the theater after experiencing debasing sexual harassment.  She needs more income to support herself, and she also is secretly subsidizing expensive treatments for her sister with special needs.  During an appointment with two NYU students, Jess overhears them discussing a highly-lucrative university study that one of them is planning to skip out on the next day.  Jess decides to seize this opportunity for some quick cash by showing up for the appointment and impersonating the student.  It turns out that the study involves questions of morality and ethics and is being conducted by Dr. Shields-a well-respected psychology professor and therapist.  Dr. Shields provides the other voice in the novel, her chapters are presented from the second-person point-of-view.  After Jess and Dr. Shields meet in person, what began as a straightforward computerized questionnaire evolves into an expanded, in vivo sequence of experiments with greater personal risk and payment for Jess. Jess increasingly becomes dependent on the money and Dr. Shields but is unaware of the objectives of the research and its underlying motives.  The reader comes to understand that Jess is being manipulated, and she is not the first to be drawn into a potentially deadly scheme.  Hendricks and Pekkanen require the reader to believe that Dr. Shields has an almost supernatural ability to read people, collect details about them, and persuade them to act. While Jess is a sympathetic character, she makes many dubious decisions and her gullibility is often implausible. The stakes for Jess are so high, the reader might wonder why she allows herself to continue on such an obviously dangerous path.  A side romantic plotline is also cursorily brought into the story but it is thin and remains underdeveloped. An Anonymous Girl remains an entertaining novel, with some genuine thrills and originality for those who can suspend disbelief and overlook these minor flaws.

A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Seeking women ages 18–32 to participate in a study on ethics and morality. Generous compensation. Anonymity guaranteed. 

Are you ready to sign up?  When Jessica Farris stumbles upon an opportunity to get paid to participate in a psychology study conducted by the mysterious Dr. Shields, she jumps at the chance to earn some much needed extra money.  All she has to do is answer a few questions, collect her payment, and be done with it.  But when the questions become more personal and intense, and Jess is placed in scenarios rather than just answering questions on a computer, she feels that Dr. Shields is playing a game with her—it appears the good doctor knows what she is thinking and what she is hiding.

Jess becomes increasingly paranoid, especially when she realizes she is caught in a trap of jealousy and deception.  Who can she really trust in this modern game of cat and mouse?

Can I tell you that I loved An Anonymous Girl just as much as The Wife Between Us?  Gah!  Greer and Pekkanen are incredible writers—they set the stage and then peel back the curtain to reveal some surprising twists.  This story is not as shocking as The Wife Between Us, instead what happens is that the plot blindsides the reader because they are so captivated by the fantastic writing.  These ladies could teach a master class for this genre, they're THAT good.  They manipulate you into believing their characters, but in fact, you can't trust any of them.  They also make you doubt your own conclusions.  Brilliant!