My Top Pick for August- Daisy Darker

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I know that the month isn’t quite over yet, but I’m calling it. I have found my favorite book for August. I just finished reading Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney and it was everything that I wanted it to be. Now, I fully reserve the right to add more books to my favorites list for August. I have a couple of highly anticipated sequels that I am waiting for…so Daisy Darker may have to share the top spot…but for now, she reigns supreme! This was most definitely a 5 Star read for me! Let’s chat!

Daisy Darker

Daisy Darker was my pick for my August Book of the Month subscription box. There were so many great choices this month but I had to grab Daisy Darker. I had heard absolutely nothing about it up until I saw it on the BOTM website! It wasn’t even on my radar. Once I saw the cover and read the synopsis I knew I had to grab it. I am a sucker for an old Gothic house…and couple that with it being smack dab in the middle of an island…and I immediately knew this was the setting for me. The synopsis immediately gave me Clue vibes…have you seen that movie? So good but so awful at the same time!! Anyway…I was hoping for a “who-done-it” with creepy old house vibes and that is exactly what I got!

Here is a quick summary of the book before we jump into WHY I loved it so much!

Amazon Description

Daisy Darker was born with a broken heart. Now after years of avoiding each other, Daisy Darker’s entire family is assembling for Nana’s 80th birthday party in her crumbling gothic house on a tiny tidal island. The family arrives, each of them harboring secrets. When the tide comes in, they will be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours.

But at the stroke of midnight, as a storm rages, Nana is found dead. And an hour later, the next family member follows…

Trapped on an island where someone is killing them one by one, the Darkers must reckon with their present mystery as well as their past secrets, before the tide goes out and all is revealed. As seen on the TODAY show and picked by Book of the Month, Daisy Darker’s family secrets and Alice Feeney’s trademark shocking twists will keep readers riveted.

5 Star from this Booknerd

That Twist…

There were so many things about Daisy Darker that made it is 5 Star read for me! Im going to start with one of the biggest…the twist. You know it is a good twist when you audibly say “Howwwwwww” and then proceed to flip back through the pages to find any clues you missed! This was GOOD. I am someone who will not rest until she figures out the mystery. Let’s just say I didn’t see this one coming. I figured out one tiny piece of the puzzle…but most definitely not the rest! It wasn’t for lack of trying. I suspected every single person in that darn house at one point…even the dog!

The Writing

Next let’s chat about the writing. This was my first Alice Feeney novel. Whew. She is such an extremely talented writer. From the very first page I was just in awe of her beautiful writing. It was so vivid and atmospheric and appeared to be almost effortless. I was immediately captivated and engrossed in the story. It was easy to follow and such a fast-paced read. I may have purchased at least one more of her novels after reading Daisy Darker because I just loved her style so much! I never felt lost or confused during the book either which is a huge bonus. It was just such a smooth and exciting read!

The Characters

The last thing I want to chat about is the characters. Man were these some real, relatable, and majorly flawed characters! So many secrets among them all! I am sure on some level we can all relate to having dysfunction somewhere in our family tree…and Alice Feeney certainly created the Darker family tree with some seriously wonky branches. I immediately connected with Nana. She is the lady I want to be when I grow up…you know, aside from the whole getting murdered on her 80th birthday thing. I’d like to avoid that. But what a fantastic character she was. So full of life, creativity, spunk, and a definite “do not care” attitude. “My dear, I’d rather be dead than normal…”. Her flair for pink and purple…yeah…what a cool old bird! She is what my mother would describe as a “hot ticket”…and I loved her. I also loved her special relationship with Daisy!

For More Info

I hope you will think about giving this one a read. It was so much fun! The book doesn’t publish until August 30th but you can pre-order or put it on hold at the library! You can also grab an early release of the book over at Book of the Month like I did! You can snag my code and save some money on your first book too. I will add the link below!

https://www.mybotm.com/nag76gv99to?show_box=true

Now I need some help from you…

It seems I have developed a bit of an obsession with the mystery/thriller genre. I want to be bombarded with all of your favorites…fave books, fave authors…all of it!!! Please drop me a comment or send me an email because I would LOVE some ideas!!!