Short AF Book Review | Sleeping With Friends

Hi friends! So today I'm going to be doing a review on "Sleeping With Friends" by Emily Schultz. This review is going to be short and sweet (like the title suggests) and spoiler free (however there will be the Goodreads synopsis in this and sometimes it can contain spoilers so please keep that in mind!)

"From the author of The Blondes comes a twisted, darkly humorous story about a woman's attempted murder, her lost memories, and the old friends who try to put her back together - or finish her off for good.

When Mia Sinclair-Kroner wakes from a coma, all she can remember are the movies she's known and loved. Her college friends quickly assemble for a weekend party, in an effort to help her remember. But with old friends come old wounds, and it soon becomes clear that Mia's accident might not have been an accident at all.

Was it Agnes, driven by her unspoken resentments? Or Zoey, who covets everything Mia has? Have the years apart only fanned the extinguished flame between Ethan and Mia, compelling him to violence? Or did Victor, who moved away, return with an agenda? Or was it Martin, the wealthy husband, who put a country estate between Mia and her past?

As old tensions and new suspicions rise, these friends must wade through their film knowledge, shared history, and everything that's kept them apart in order to figure out which one of them is trying to end things once and for all."

How I read this book: eBook

So this book was one of the kindle first reads that came out this month, I picked this one as it genuinely looked the most interesting. I needed something to get me back into reading and because this book is just over 200 pages I thought it would be the perfect little read to get me out of my slump. I definitely made the right decision in choosing this book! I really enjoyed reading Sleeping With Friends, it was medium paced and felt more like a whodunit rather than your typical mystery/thriller. There are definitely parts of the book that you should check the trigger warnings for if you were to read it, and there is also a lot of dark humour (which I enjoy dark humour a lot). You get to learn so much about the dynamic between the friends, as well as see their characters develop throughout the book. I was definitely not expecting the ending of this book, and it does very well to try and divert you away from the truth right until the end. I also really enjoyed how flipped between the perspectives of the friends, it keeps the vibe of the book fresh and leaves you wanting to know more! 

My Favourite Characters

- Agnes - Agnes is one of Mia's closest friends throughout the book and she really shone as a friend throughout. She's very loveable and honestly tries her best to be the most level headed throughout the book (even if she does fail at times).

- Victor - Victor does come in round about the middle of the book so we don't get as much time with him as the others, however I really loved him as a character. Out of everybody in the book he was the only one to really listen to Mia completely throughout the book. I just wish we got more of him.

Least Favourite characters

- Ethan - Ethan is honestly such a manchild throughout the book. He literally throws a temper tantrum and I just can't deal with full grown men being wrote the way Ethan was.

- Zoey - Zoey is definitely a friend you wouldn't want around, she was so selfish and narcissistic throughout the book and the author made her very easy to dislike.

Overall, I really enjoyed "Sleeping With Friends" and apparently there is a sequel coming out next year and I can't wait to get my hands on it! If you want a fun mystery book I'd definitely recommend this one!

I gave this book a 4/5 star rating on Goodreads.

What did you think of this book? Who were your favourite or least favourite characters? Do you have any books you'd recommend for me to read and do a review on? Please let me know down in the comments below!

Have a wonderful day!

Love, Doe

Short AF Book Review | I Don't Need Therapy (And Other Lies I've Told Myself)

Hi friends! So today I'm going to be doing a review on "I Don't Need Therapy (And Other Lies I've Told Myself) by Toni Lodge. This review is going to be short and sweet (like the title suggests) and spoiler free (however there will be the Goodreads synopsis in this and sometimes it can contain spoilers so please keep that in mind!)

"A hilarious memoir of home truths and whatever the opposite of 'that girl energy' is, from one half of the hit podcast Toni and Ryan. Most of us tell little white lies all the time. Whether it's 'I'm five minutes away' or 'It must have gone to my spam folder', most of these fibs are harmless. But what if you realised that you weren't just lying about the little things, but the big 'life' stuff too? When Toni Lodge sat down to write this memoir, she discovered that the lies she was telling herself were hiding some pretty important home truths- about her work, her identity and her mental health. Her dodged pursuit of these truths sent her on a brazen exploration of everything from gastro, fame and Twilight to funerals, the Dalai Lama and Brazilian waxes. In this hilarious warm hug of a book, Toni exposes the lies she has told herself about who she is and what she is capable of, inviting you on a riotous romp that will make you laugh, cringe, cry and utterly rethink the truth behind the stories we tell ourselves."

How I read this book: Audiobook

So the reason I wanted to read this book is because I started listening to the Toni and Ryan podcast about 3 months ago after seeing some of their funny videos on TikTok. (I am currently only caught up to June of this year so no one tell me anything in the comments haha!) I really love the humour of the podcast and when it was announced on the podcast that Toni had written a book I KNEW I had to read it. The goodreads synopsis isn't lying, this truly was a hug in a book. I really loved listening to Toni read out her book (if you're going to read this, please do the audiobook.) I laughed with her at her funny moments, I cried with her during the sad moments. This is one of the first autobiographies that I have ever read and I am so appreciative that Toni's was my first. Toni is honestly such a beautiful soul and it genuinely felt like just sitting down with a friend for a cuppa. I love that they didn't cut out snippets of her laughing or her choking up. It felt authentic to listen to and I honestly would recommend this book to anyone (even if you're not a fan of the Toni and Ryan podcast) because it is just so funny, and sad, and perfect.

I gave this book a 5/5 star rating on goodreads.

What did you think of this book? Do you have any books you'd recommend for me to read and do a review on? Please let me know down in the comments below!

Have a wonderful day!

Love, Doe

Short AF Book Review | The Silent Patient

Hi friends! So today I'm going to be doing a review on "The Silent Patient" by Alex Michaelides. This review is going to be short and sweet (like the title suggests) and spoiler free (however there will be the Goodreads synopsis in this and sometimes it can contain spoilers so please keep that in mind!)

"Alicia Berenson's life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London's most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word.

Alicia's refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations - a search for the truth that threatens to consume him...

The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman's act of violence against her husband - and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive"

How I read this book: Physical copy

So this book is not a book I generally would think about picking up. However I bought a blind date with a book from the mysterious bookshelf after having it in my tiktok shop favourites for a while (I chose the booktok option). I'm not usually the biggest fan of fiction crime books and honestly the start of this book was very slow. I carried on reading however because the chapters were very short and it has been a goal of mine to try to read at least 50 pages of a book a day. If I hadn't of set myself this challenge I don't believe I would of finished it. With that being said when you get towards the middle and the end of the book things start to pick up pace and started to grip me in. I loved the character development and getting to find out more about both Alicia and Theo. Then there was the twist! I was genuinely taken by surprise and would actually recommend this book to anyone who loves thrillers and crime fiction just for the ending of this book. This is not a book that I am likely to keep on my bookshelf however because it is not something that I would be willing to read again.

My Favourite Characters

- Ruth - Ruth is honestly such a loveable old lady and even though she does not appear much in the book I really fell in love with her character and I actually wish we did manage to get some more of her

- Indira - Once again, a loveable character, Indira is one of the therapists at the grove and honestly is the kind of person I feel most people would love to have as one! She is another background character but I enjoyed the time she was on the pages a lot.

- Tanya - I actually felt sorry for Tanya in some parts of the book and once again she did not appear very much in the book but I genuinely wish we'd gotten to learn more about her.

My Least Favourite Characters

- Theo - I cannot say too much about Theo without giving the book away, but I hate him, and the writer made him such an easy character to hate. He is partly why I found this book hard to read at times (with him being essentially the main character) but he was also written very well for what he is.

- Gabriel - A garbage excuse of a man honestly. Once again, I cannot say too much without giving away the book. At the start Gabriel is very loveable but I just ended the book very much disliking him.

- Max - Honestly, why are most of the men in this book garbage? Max is the worst out of them all and I very much was uncomfortable in scenes with him in. He was written very well also but I just wish there was less of him in.

Overall, I enjoyed "The Silent Patient" enough to read it once, but I do not think I will be picking up this book again. Apparently it's being turned into a movie so I will probably end up watching it, and it is definitely not something I would've picked up if it hadn't of been a blind date with a book, but I'm glad that I got to enjoy it!

I gave this book a 3/5 star rating on goodreads.

What did you think of this book? Who were your favourite or least favourite characters? Do you have books you'd recommend for me to read and do a review on? Please let me know down in the comments below!

Have a wonderful day!

Love, Doe