Book Review: The Writer by James Patterson and J.D. Barker

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The Writer by James Patterson and J.D. Barker  was published on March 17, 2025. It opens with Detective Declan Shaw at a closed subway station trying to work up the nerve to commit suicide when he receives a call from his partner about a break in and homicide at the home of a true crime author. Shaw makes his way to the crime scene to work the case, and in a turn of events, Declan comes under scrutiny in another case loosely connected to this new case. I received an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of The Writer  from NetGalley and Little , Brown, and Company for free in exchange for my honest review. I'm appreciative that my request for this book was approved. With this story opening with the main character trying to commit suicide, I almost didn't go any further with the book. However, I am glad I stuck with it as it took me on a fantastic ride and had my emotions all over the place. There were so many twists and turns that just when I thought I had it all figured out, there was ...
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Book Review: I Am Made of Death by Kelly Andrew

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Netgalley ARC of I Am Made of Death by Kelly Andrew
I Am Made of Death by Kelly Andrew is a young adult book that is told from the perspective of two different characters. It opens with Thomas Walsh taking a job as an ASL (American Sign Language) interpreter for a mute girl named Vivienne who hasn't spoken since a family vacation gone wrong. Vivi must be accompanied at all times and isn't allowed out after dark. She has decided to take matters into her own hands and have a medically questionable surgery to fix her issue.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic for providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of I Am Made of Death by Kelly Andrew for free in exchange for my honest review. This is a book that I wished for, and my wish was granted. To say I was excited is an understatement.

The character development for both Thomas and Vivienne was exceptionally good, especially for a YA book. We learn their backstory continuously throughout the storyline, so the development is slow. As for the writing, it was well written and drew me in and kept me engaged until the very end. There were parts that reminded me of Desperation and It by Stephen King, which is both good and bad since I loved one and thought the other was depressing. At other points, it reminded me of another book, but I can't think of the title or author of that book now. Something that gave me pause was seeing the name of my high school band director being used as a character's name who had a completely different job than my teacher.

There aren't many negatives for me when it comes to this novel. One of those negatives for me is when the author used words that I've never heard of in my life when the common word would have sufficed and made the story flow better. I am all for learning new words, but having to stop to look up words definitely took me out of the story. There is a romance element that seemed to come out of nowhere, and I thought it could have been done a little better. The only other negative for me was the ending, which seemed rushed and left me somewhat confused.

Four stars out of five stars is what I gave I Am Made of Death by Kelly Andrew. Although this novel is categorized as sci-fi, fantasy, and romance, I personally would put it in the horror genre. I definitely recommend this book for tweens and teens who love horror and adults who love Stephen King.

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