Emily Schultz

Sleeping with Friends by Emily Schultz is a fast paced suspense novel that will have you reevaluating any long standing friendships.

I love the concept of Sleeping with Friends; Mia is in a coma after what may have been an attempt on her life or a slip and fall accident. When she comes to, one of her college friends, Agnes, suggests a rememoring party. Mainly so Mia can remember all the good things about Agnes, but also so they can solve a possible attempted murder.
All the elements of a good whodunnit were there, and as I mentioned before, it is a fast paced book, but it still dragged at times for me in regards to not caring too much about any of the characters.

They were well written, but they all seemed like entitled brats. I know that is how most of them were supposed to come across, and one of the themes is even, would you still be friends with some of the people you met in high school or college if you met them today, but when I can’t connect with the characters, I can’t connect with the book. The only one that I kind of cared about what happened to her was Agnes, so I’m glad she came to some of the realizations she did by the end of the book.

Towards the end when new people suddenly appeared the book seemed to take a bit of a whacky turn to me. The next death seemed to be there just to try and add some suspense.

If you’re in the mood for some mindless fun, and you enjoy reading about people who could use a good dose of therapy, Sleeping with Friends may be just what you are looking for.… (more)

Little Threats
2 Stars

***An ARC of the book was provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

Released after 15 years in prison for a murder that she cannot remember, Kennedy Wynn returns home to face the survivors: her father, her sister, and the victim's family. When the host of a true-crime show takes an interest in the case, tensions rise and secrets are revealed.

Despite an intriguing premise and the potential for an exciting and action-packed thriller, Little Threats fails to deliver on its promise.

To begin with, this is not a mystery or a psychological thriller. Rather it is an almost clinical documentation of the effects of tragedy on the community and environment of both the convicted killer and the victim. Unfortunately, the characters are underdeveloped and lack substance, which makes it difficult to connect or empathize with any of them.

Even the "who-dun-it" elements are mundane and uninspired. The pacing is slow and the eventual revelation of the truth behind the crime is anti-climactic.

The writing is also problematic. The sentence structure is awkward, and the vocabulary choices are often contextually inappropriate. In addition, there are several flashback scenes as well as shifts in narrative perspective from first to third person. This does not appearto serve any real purpose and actually results in a story that is disjointed and lacking cohesion.

While some readers may enjoy the slow burn and psychological drama of the book, those with a preference for gripping police procedurals or exciting thrillers may be disappointed.… (more)