Everything I Read in August 2025
1. A Killing Cold
Meh. I wanted this book to be a bit more exciting than it was. Sadly it fell a bit flat for me. Theodora is marrying into a very wealthy family and spending her first weekend with her soon to be family at their remote winter compound. Theodora’s fiance Connor is confident that his family will love her but does warn her that his grandmother especially make take some time to warm up to her. Soon after arriving though, Theodora begins to receive threatening messages warning her to stay away from Connor and leave him for good. While Theodora doesn’t know who could be sending these haunting notes, she does have a past that connects her to the family property they are staying at. The story kept my attention but wasn’t a favorite. Rating: 8
2. The Family Remains
This is the sequel to The Family Upstairs but you can still enjoy and understand this book even if you haven’t read the prequel. When the remains of a person wash up on the shore of the Thames river, investigators are able to connect the evidence back to a cold case from nearly 30 years ago. At the same time that these remains are being found, Lucy and her brother are both still trying to forget the horrific events that transpired in their past at that same home tied to the cold case. Investigators have few leads but there are a couple loose ends that don’t seem to be linked. However once they follow each lead separately, they all seem to come back to Lucy and her brother.
I had trouble following the story at times because there are a ton of characters. But things made sense in the end. Rating: 7.5
3. North Woods
I believe this was on the New York Times Best Books of 2023 and has been on my list for a long time. Sadly, I couldn’t even get a third of the way into it before deciding to give up. It was brutally tedious and boring. Rating: Did not finish
4. Lying in Wait
The twist and turns of this book were the best!! Lydia and her husband, Andrew, have a seemingly picture perfect life that everybody admires. But secretly they are falling apart and Lydia’s husband ends up murdering a young woman unbeknownst to anyone but Lydia and their teenage son Laurence. Andrew dies of a heart attack shortly after this and he is never brought to justice for his horrific crime. Fast forward nearly a decade later and Lydia’s son, Laurence, is trying to live a normal life while also concealing this devastating family secret.
While Lydia was fine keeping Andrew’s secret, Laurence isn’t sure he wants to continue and actually seeks out the family of the young woman his father murdered. He befriends the sister of the murdered girl. And must decide if he will come clean to her or remain loyal to his mother. This is not a fast paced myster. But the slow burn of the story and all the complicated relationships makes this story absolutely captivating! I was hooked the entire time. Rating: 8.5
5. The September House
I almost gave up on this book multiple times. But for some reason decided to finish it because I wanted to know the real truth behind what was happening. It’s a paranormal ghost story which I don’t always love and found myself rolling my eyes from time to time. The emotional part of the story and the relationships gave the book more depth and redeemed it slightly.
Margaret and her husband Hal buy an old Victorian home in the later years to spend their retirement in this remote yet beautiful house. The house does end up being haunted and Margaret becomes close with the entities who live there despite some of their weird behaviors. When Margaret’s daughter calls to come for a visit, Margaret doesn’t want her to come because of all the strange occurrences that will most certainly terrify her. The paranormal aspect of this book is definitely ridiculous at times. But the underlying theme of family relationships and the trauma it can cause does give it depth. Rating: 7
6. We Are All Guilty Here
Ooooooh I LOVED this book!! I had a full moment of disbelief at the end because this character was not on my radar throughout the entire book. A true twisty psychological thriller. Emmy Clifton is an officer in the small town she grew up in and works under her father who is the sheriff. One summer evening, two young teenage girls go missing. The town launches into a full scale search to find them. Emmy knows every second that goes by means the likelihood of finding them alive goes down. When they are finally found, the evidence points to one man and he is sent away for 20 years.
Fast forward 20 years and the man convicted of the crime is exonerated when new evidence emerges. Emmy feels personally responsible for this possible mishap. And vows to reexamine the case to see where mistakes could have been made. That is, until news of another missing teenage girl is reported and Emmy feels like she is reliving this tragedy all over again. I was hooked from the beginning and did not want the book to end! Rating: 9
Related: The Best Books I Read So Far This Year
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