#wendy walker book review

[godzilla-reads]

🥮 Mooncakes by Wendy Xu, Suzanne Walker, and Joamette Gil

“Sometimes… sometimes I think we need space. A chance to go out on our own, find our own way.”

My friend Tay was the one who showed me this book and I knew right away, as I was eating a mooncake, that I had to get this book.

Nova Huang, a witch, meets her childhood crush Tam Lang, a werewolf, after not seeing each other in years. Nova finds Tam fighting a horse demon and they decide to work together to unravel the secrets around this demon and wolf magic.

A book that contains two of my favorite things: Magic and Werewolves (also tasty food)! The story-telling was very focused on families and the highs and lows of parents’ expectations (evil and non-evil expectations). Nova and Tam’s relationship is super cute, although it was moving really fast for my liking.

The one thing I loved most about this was how right away when Tam said “I use they/them pronouns now”, everyone accepted it and moved on, respecting their pronouns. I don’t need long-winded explanations on gender theory all the time. Sometimes I just enjoy the simple nature of accepting someone’s new pronouns and leaving it at that.

[quirkycatsfatstacks]

Review: Mooncakes

Writer: Suzanne WalkerArtist: Wendy XuPublisher: Oni PressReleased: October 22, 2019Received: Library Book Summary: Nova Huang is a teenage witch. There are many assumptions about what a teenage witch should be doing. For Nova, most of her life is spent helping around her grandmothers’ bookshop. She loves helping – and loves the magic. Her life had been calm and quiet – right up until Tam Lang…

[stardustandrockets]

Where's your favorite place to read?

When it's not a THOUSAND degrees, I like reading outside. A few weeks ago I sat on a bench at the park area of one of my favorite shopping centers after running some errands. I definitely had sweat dripping down the backs of my legs by the time I decided it was time to go, but there was a breeze, and all things considered, it was rather pleasant.

Mooncakes was a cute graphic novel about Tam, a nonbinary werewolf trying to thwart an evil magical cult, and Nova, a deaf witch trying to figure out her place. It's got great deaf rep, accommodations for using magic, queer joy, and Chinese cultural rep. Not only is it about thwarting the bad guys, but it's heavily about family, too.

I really enjoyed this quick graphic novel read. Definitely worth picking up!

[coupleofbeesread]

Kayla Reviews EMMA IN THE NIGHT

Kayla Reviews EMMA IN THE NIGHT

Buy ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 5 out of 5. SUMMARY One night three years ago, the Tanner sisters disappeared: fifteen-year-old Cass and seventeen-year-old Emma. Three years later, Cass returns, without her sister Emma. Her story is one of kidnapping and betrayal, of a mysterious island where the two were held. But to forensic psychiatrist Dr. Abby Winter, something doesn’t add up. Looking deep within this…

[itgetsbetterproject]

Back-to-school tips for LGBTQ+ youth from a QUEER TEACHER!

It's that season, y'all! 🍎✏️ So we asked queer 8th grade English teacher Sarah from Memphis, TN what tips she would share with LGBTQ+ youth going back to school:

Look for supportive adults.

Is there a teacher always sporting a pride pin? Are there safe space posters hung up in their classroom or pride flags displayed? These are strong indicators that adult will affirm and uplift your identity. If you are unsure but want to test the waters, ask an adult what their pronouns are. Judging by their response and if they return the question, something small like this can help you determine if they are a safe person. 

Find a queer-affirming club(s) at your school. 

Does your school have a GSA or diversity club? Consider joining to build a supportive community and form connections with people you can relate to. If your school does not have a pre-existing club, consider finding an adult advisor to help and start your own GSA. Find more tips on how to do so here: https://gsanetwork.org/resources/10-steps-for-starting-a-gsa/

Trust your gut.

If you don’t feel safe in a situation, trust your instincts. If possible, remove yourself from the environment and ask for help; know that it’s ok to not share your identity with everyone, especially if you feel they are not a safe person. Conversely, if someone does make you feel safe and loved, believe that feeling too. You are in charge of who gets to know you.

Check out YA books exploring queer identities.

An amazing way to learn more about queer experiences is to read about them. There are countless young adult novels and graphic novels that can help you better understand yourself and others. Titles like The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes, Taproot by Keezy Young, Out of Character by Jenna Miller, and Mooncakes by Wendy Xu and Suzanne Walker are all great stories to explore. For a more comprehensive list of LGBTQ+ YA books, visit https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/15/books/review/lgbtq-ya-books-authors.html

Seek social support.

What would life be like without friends? Although you may not click with everyone at your school, you are not alone. LGBTQ+ people are everywhere, even if it’s hard to see sometimes. Find friends who support your identity or are a part of the community as well! 

Remember! You have every right to be exactly who you are.

You are the only person who can define your identity. The terms you use to refer to yourself can evolve over time, or can remain the same, but as long as it feels right to you that’s perfect. Believe yourself, and do not doubt your worth. Growing up is a difficult process but remember, it gets better. 

Read it on the blog itgetsbetter.org too!

[richincolor]

Mid-Autumn and Mooncakes

With the Mid-Autumn Festival coming up at the end of September, mooncakes have been on my mind. Several conversations have revolved around the festival and food in my real life and on social media so I started wondering if there were YA books for that. And yes indeed, here are a few books featuring the moon or mooncakes that I've read or have on my TBR.

Retellings Related to the Moon

An Arrow to the Moon by Emily X.R. Pan Little, Brown Books For Young Readers

Hunter Yee has perfect aim with a bow and arrow, but all else in his life veers wrong. He’s sick of being haunted by his family’s past mistakes. The only things keeping him from running away are his little brother, a supernatural wind, and the bewitching girl at his new high school.

Luna Chang dreads the future. Graduation looms ahead, and her parents’ expectations are stifling. When she begins to break the rules, she finds her life upended by the strange new boy in her class, the arrival of unearthly fireflies, and an ominous crack spreading across the town of Fairbridge.

As Hunter and Luna navigate their families’ enmity and secrets, everything around them begins to fall apart. All they can depend on is their love… but time is running out, and fate will have its way.

Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan Harper Voyager

Growing up on the moon, Xingyin is accustomed to solitude, unaware that she is being hidden from the feared Celestial Emperor who exiled her mother for stealing his elixir of immortality. But when Xingyin’s magic flares and her existence is discovered, she is forced to flee her home, leaving her mother behind.

Alone, powerless, and afraid, she makes her way to the Celestial Kingdom, a land of wonder and secrets. Disguising her identity, she seizes an opportunity to learn alongside the emperor's son, mastering archery and magic, even as passion flames between her and the prince.

To save her mother, Xingyin embarks on a perilous quest, confronting legendary creatures and vicious enemies across the earth and skies. But when treachery looms and forbidden magic threatens the kingdom, she must challenge the ruthless Celestial Emperor for her dream—striking a dangerous bargain in which she is torn between losing all she loves or plunging the realm into chaos.

A captivating debut fantasy inspired by the legend of Chang'e, the Chinese moon goddess, in which a young woman’s quest to free her mother pits her against the most powerful immortal in the realm. Daughter of the Moon Goddess begins an enchanting, romantic duology which weaves ancient Chinese mythology into a sweeping adventure of immortals and magic—where love vies with honor, dreams are fraught with betrayal, and hope emerges triumphant.

Mooncakes 

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu Oni Press [Jessica's Review]

A story of love and demons, family and witchcraft.

Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmothers' bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town.

One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home.

Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. Their latent feelings are rekindled against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old in this enchanting tale of self-discovery.

When You Wish Upon a Lantern by Gloria Chao Viking

Liya and Kai had been best friends since they were little kids, but all that changed when a humiliating incident sparked The Biggest Misunderstanding Of All Time—and they haven’t spoken since.

Then Liya discovers her family's wishing lantern store is struggling, and she decides to resume a tradition she had with her beloved late grandmother: secretly fulfilling the wishes people write on the lanterns they send into the sky. It may boost sales and save the store, but she can't do it alone . . . and Kai is the only one who cares enough to help.

While working on their covert missions, Liya and Kai rekindle their friendship—and maybe more. But when their feuding families and their changing futures threaten to tear them apart again, can they find a way to make their own wishes come true?

Fake Dates and Mooncakes by Sher Lee Underlined

Dylan Tang wants to win a Mid-Autumn Festival mooncake-making competition for teen chefs—in memory of his mom, and to bring much-needed publicity to his aunt’s struggling Chinese takeout in Brooklyn.

Enter Theo Somers: charming, wealthy, with a smile that makes Dylan’s stomach do backflips. AKA a distraction. Their worlds are sun-and-moon apart, but Theo keeps showing up. He even convinces Dylan to be his fake date at a family wedding in the Hamptons.

In Theo’s glittering world of pomp, privilege, and crazy rich drama, their romance is supposed to be just pretend . . . but Dylan finds himself falling for Theo. For real. Then Theo’s relatives reveal their true colors—but with the mooncake contest looming, Dylan can’t risk being sidetracked by rich-people problems.

Can Dylan save his family’s business and follow his heart—or will he fail to do both?

[bones-clouds]

books i read in 2024:

"they never learn"

layne fargo

rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️, 5

genre: thriller, mystery, wlw

synopsis:

From the author of the “raw, ingenious, and utterly fearless” (Wendy Walker, USA TODAY bestselling author) Temper comes a dynamic psychological thriller about two women who give bad men exactly what they deserve.

Scarlett Clark is an exceptional English professor. But she’s even better at getting away with murder.

Every year, she searches for the worst man at Gorman University and plots his well-deserved demise. Thanks to her meticulous planning, she’s avoided drawing attention to herself—but as she’s preparing for her biggest kill yet, the school starts probing into the growing body count on campus. Determined to keep her enemies close, Scarlett insinuates herself into the investigation and charms the woman in charge, Dr. Mina Pierce. Everything’s going according to her master plan…until she loses control with her latest victim, putting her secret life at risk of exposure.

Meanwhile, Gorman student Carly Schiller is just trying to survive her freshman year. Finally free of her emotionally abusive father, all Carly wants is to focus on her studies and fade into the background. Her new roommate has other ideas. Allison Hadley is cool and confident—everything Carly wishes she could be—and the two girls quickly form an intense friendship. So when Allison is sexually assaulted at a party, Carly becomes obsessed with making the attacker pay...and turning her fantasies about revenge into a reality.

Featuring Layne Fargo’s trademark “propulsive writing style” (Kirkus Reviews) and “sinister, of the moment” (Chicago Review of Books) suspense, They Never Learn is a feminist serial killer story perfect for fans of Killing Eve and Chelsea Cain.

[scotianostra]

On December 27th 1904 J M Barrie’s play Peter Pan premiered at the Duke of York Theatre, London.

Writer and playwright J.M. Barrie was born on May 9, 1860, in Kirriemuir, Forfarshire, Scotland. After graduating from Edinburgh University in 1882, Barrie worked as a journalist. He published his first novel, Better Dead, in 1887. Barrie soon had a string of popular novels set in Scotland, including A Window in Thrums.

After having some success with fiction, Barrie began writing plays in 1890s. His play, Walker London, was warmly received. The comedy poked fun at the institution of marriage. He got married himself in 1894 to actress Mary Ansell, but it didn’t turn out to be a happy union and they later divorced.

Perhaps to escape his difficult home life, Barrie took to going out for long walks in London’s Kensington Gardens, where he met the five Llewelyn Davies brothers in the late 1890s. It was the brothers where he found inspiration for Peter Pan. Barrie would later become the boys’ guardian after the death of their parents.

The famous character of Peter Pan first appeared in the 1902 book The Little White Bird. Two years later audiences were drawn into the fantastical tale of the flying boy who never grew up and his adventures in Neverland with the Darling children. Barrie also wrote a book based on the play called Peter and Wendy, which was published in 1911. The book earned rave reviews from critics.

Barrie published about Peter Pan in five works in total, Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, When Wendy Grew Up – An Afterthought, Peter and Wendy, and Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, the first publication of the script of the play.

Around 40 other stories have been published by various other people through the years along with four nonfiction works telling the stories behind the stories. Numerous comic books have also been published and there was a radio adaptation from the BBC in 1995.

According to wiki we have had 26 different stage plays about or eponymous boy who never grew up, the latest being only two years ago, Peter Pan: reimagined fro the Birmingham Rep.

Wiki says there have been 12 films, including the animated ones, and on the small screen in various guises, Peter has been explored 12 times.

The charm of J M Barrie’s character lives on in several video games and who knows how long we will continue to see Peter appear in years to come.

[libertyreads]

Book Review #106 of 2023--

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu. Rating: 3 stars.

Read on August 22nd.

Like I do with most of the graphic novels I read, I'm going to keep this one short. This graphic novel had a ton of hype around it a few years back when it came out--at least on the bookish parts of the internet that I roam--and it sounds like it would be up most people's alley. It's a Fantasy Graphic Novel about a witch and werewolf who reconnect after several years and work to fight off a demon. They might also be developing something romantically. I liked the representation in this: we have a girl with hearing aids who has to work around them/with them for her magic, we have the two grandmas who the witch lives with, we have a WLW romance. It was also super sweet. I just feel like this falls into a trap that a lot of Graphic Novels fall into which is that it relies on things being implied in a lot of situations in order to be slightly shorter. It makes the story feel flat in those parts. But as we know I'm a girl who once said that a 700 page Fantasy novel was not long enough. I guarantee this could have been 50 pages longer and I still would have wanted more. It's definitely good for people who want a little bit of that witchy vibe while trying to summon Fall.

[howdidthatbookend]

Wendy Walker | WHAT REMAINS Spoilers

The Book:  What Remains by Wendy WalkerPublished June 13, 2023 by Blackstone PublishingDate read: September 6, 2024 What Remains spoilers can be found below, but they’re hidden under a spoiler tag so you’re safe to keep scrolling if you’d just like to read my review. The Characters:  Elise ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4.5 out of 5. Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon This page contains affiliate links. I…

[lzteach]

Linda's Book Obsession Reviews "American Girl" by Wendy Walker, Blackstone Publishing, On Tour with Suzy Approved Book Tours, October 17, 2023

Wendy Walker, the Author of “American Girl,” has written an intense and captivating thriller. The Genres for this novel are Suspense, Thriller, Mystery, and Fiction. The author adds a “touch of class” when vividly describing her dramatic characters. I couldn’t put this book down; the twists and turns, betrayals, and ups and downs were riveting. Charlie Hudson is a 17-year-old autistic senior in…

[whitneydaniell]

by: Wendy Walker Published: Sep 15, 2020 Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Fiction 342 Pages, E-Book

★★★★

GoodReads Synopsis:

One night, Molly Clarke walked away from her life. The car abandoned miles from home. The note found at a nearby hotel. The shattered family that couldn't be put back together. It happens all the time. Women disappear, desperate to leave their lives behind and start over. She doesn't want to be found. Or at least, that's the story. But is that what really happened to Molly Clarke?

The night Molly disappeared began with a storm, running out of gas, and a man in a truck offering her a ride to town. With him is a little girl who reminds her of the daughter she lost years ago. It feels like a sign. And Molly is overcome with the desire to be home, with her family—no matter how broken it is. She accepts the ride. But when the doors are locked shut, Molly begins to suspect she has made a terrible mistake.

When a new lead comes in after the search has ended, Molly's daughter, Nicole, begins to wonder. Nothing about her mother's disappearance makes sense.

Nicole returns to the small, desolate town where her mother was last seen to find the truth. The locals are kind and eager to help. The innkeeper. The bartender. Even the police. Until secrets begin to reveal themselves and she comes closer to the truth about that night—and the danger surrounding her.

My Review:

A wild ride! Why would Molly just leave her car in some podunk town and never look back on her old life? It makes no sense.

On her from her son's basketball game, a school she traveled to often, Molly's car is abandoned and a note is left in a hotel room. Nothing about that makes sense to her daughter and she refuses to leave this town without some answers. Molly is dealing with her own trauma of losing her young daughter and fading in and out of her actual life. She has faded from her relationship with her husband and is estranged from her other daughter.

This story is told from two perspectives; Molly and Nicole. Molly has been kidnapped and held hostage but whoever kidnapped her, wants people to believe that she has just run off from her family. Leaving a note that says, "Don't look for me."

Molly is forced to be a caretaker to a young girl who reminds her of her own daughter, which uncovers some painful memories of the loss of her own daughter.

Why did he take her? What does he want with her?

Fast-paced read.

One-Word Summary: Wild

[tc-booksandmore]

Book number 4 for 2023 is done! Mooncakes by Wendy Xu @artofwendyxu , Suzanne Walker, and Joamette Gil This is an adorable graphic novel with a queer hard of hearing witch and her non-binary werewolf friend fighting a demon and falling for each other. I really liked the characters, and I loved the art style. If one of your favorite characters was Tara from Buffy, I think you would like this book. My full review is up on Goodreads. https://www.instagram.com/p/CnS_yj1JjXZ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[televinita]

Book ask: 22, 23, and 24!

22. What’s the longest book you read?

A Baby's Bones by Rebecca Alexander - 473 pages

23. What’s the fastest time it took you to read a book?

Going by my typical reading rate and the fact that I have a few in the 100-150 page range, I'm going to guess somewhere between 60 and 90 minutes.

24. Did you DNF anything? Why?

I only remember the recent ones, but they include --

The Game - Linsey Miller: something about the writing style just instantly annoyed me. It's so short and I was so pumped about the premise that I thought surely I could power through, but really, 40 pages of struggling and I just couldn't make any positive headway. Spared myself the rage.

Such a Pretty Girl - Laura Weiss: I loved two of her later books but this one, again, just instantly made me realize I wasn't going to like ANYONE in this book, and as I skimmed ahead, the creepy flashbacks to her abuse and weird mysticism of "victim souls" made me real "wow no thank you."

Don't Look For Me - Wendy Walker: I was way excited about this, as a different sort of take on a mystery/thriller where you spend half the time with the captive victim, but I started it on audio and after suffering 25 minutes with the whiny hand-wringing "I kiiiillled my baaaaaby" narrator, I just knew I could not suffer a whole book of this, even in print format. Read spoiler reviews and called it a day. Think I made the right call.

[bewitchingbooktours]

A Bewitching Thursday A Round-Up of Daily Tour Stops Messengers of the Macabre: Halloween Poems by LindaAnn LoSchiavo and David Davies #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/mb9R50L303H Haunted Halloween Spooktacular: Vampire Musings #bewitchingbooktours #hauntedhalloweenspooktacular http://ow.ly/aCYc50L30fZ The Gryphon and His Thief by Karen Michelle Nutt http://roxannerhoads.booklikes.com/post/5267202/the-gryphon-and-his-thief-by-karen-michelle-nutt The Wild Rose and the Sea Raven by Jennifer Ivy Walker http://roxannerhoads.booklikes.com/post/5267221/the-wild-rose-and-the-sea-raven-by-jennifer-ivy-walker Haunted Halloween Spooktacular: Weep, Woman, Weep by Maria DeBlassie #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/VBok50L30eq WIP it Real Good: Romantic fantasy author Jennifer Ivy Walker + giveaway #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/LxLn50L30az THE WILD ROSE AND THE SEA RAVEN BY JENNIFER IVY WALKER - BOOK TOUR + GIVEAWAY #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/kfjh50L309n The Ghost Circus – A Spooktacular Tale #bewitchingbooktours #hauntedhalloweenspooktacular http://ow.ly/Le0H50L306f Bloodlink Sometimes, in a world of darkness, it’s the secrets that keep you sane. #bewitchigbooktours #hauntedhalloweenspooktacular http://ow.ly/Eybf50L300c Alpha Receptor by Karenna Colcroft - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular #bewitchingbooktours  #hauntedhalloweenspooktacular http://ow.ly/PnQP50L2ZYH A woman obsessed with a missing person case. She travels by choice until there is no choice anymore. And each step of the way raises the stakes even higher. Eye of the Gargoyle by Wendy Webb https://www.amazon.com/Eye-Gargoyle-Wendy-Webb-ebook/dp/B088TY4Q8V #suspense #thriller #metaphysical #internationalmystery Review - Hungry Business: A Gothic Story about the Horrors of Dating by Maria DeBlassie https://www.instagram.com/p/CjVZYpXrbuZ/ Getting Crafty with Jennifer Ivy Walker's Renaissance Denim Couture #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/GMqh50L1Syz Hungry Business by Maria DeBlassie #hauntedhalloweenspooktacular #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/uf9j50L301M

[booksbookandmorebooks]

Emma in the night Book review.

Hello there my lovelies, I know its been a little while since I last posted and I have honestly missed doing this so much, so thank you to anyone still here and still supporting me, it means the absolute world. 

As everyone is fully aware 2020 was an awful one but hopefully this year we can aim for a little more positivity and happiness, which is why im back today with a review of my first read of this year and bloody hell did I pick a goodun! So this is my first review for my first book of 2021, enjoy! 

The writing style

One of my favourite things about this book was the different points of view you get to experience and how well they mesh together. For example, we are told very early on that the events Cass is recalling aren’t exactly what you would call accurate and that she has spent months planning and creating this false narrative in an order to manipulate the people she's describing them to (which in itself is something I always get drawn into, the mystery and the need to figure out the characters motives and intentions along side the biggest question of all WHY?! Which is a question will find yourself screaming at the pages) This is made very apparent from the use of the choppy and restrictive way that these scenes are written. Wendy also somehow manages to create a feeling of desperation and messiness whilst having the characters maintaining such a mellow and collected exterior, you know the calm before the storm! Which is such a jarring feeling but one that realty captured and immersed me. A feeling I don’t think is easy to convey through a book format. That in itself is a testament to Wendy’s talent as a writer.

When you compare Cass’ chapters and inner dialogue to detective Abby’s they are so different but when they are looked at side by side they create a very interesting contrast that as I said before works so well, while there is a calm chaos to Cass’ words there is in turn a very structured and balanced feel to Abby's, almost a little detached like you were reading sections cut directly from a police case file. Through this constant difference in characters POVS the story flowed flawlessly and at the perfect pace for a thriller book. 

The climax of the book was not just shocking but also depicted so well in how the writing matched the pace of the reveal, the whole book alternates between cass and Abby with each chapter assigned to one of the characters but towards the end you see that the different POVs are whittled down to single sentences or just a few paragraphs that get shorter and shorter as the tension builds, creating this intense feeling of panic, alert and fear. A method that I swear had my heart physically racing at the end! It was like watching a classic cat and mouse scene play out in my hands/

I also have to mention that very last chapter. I'm sorry for waffling on but please bare with me. For a book based around secrets and deception the ending was that of a perfect one because of its ability to make you feel like after reading it you now share a secret with Cass and you are now part of this extremely messed up story and family, you have this understanding of her whole character and her motives which really brings everything full circle.

The character development:

The character development in this book is one of the best ive seen in awhile with each character being incredibly layered and yet undeniably flawed. Its done in such a human way that it doesn’t feel too far fetched like some thrillers ive read in recent years. Ensuring that all of the emotions tied in with said characters hit 10 times harder than that of those very basic 2 dimensional characters, even the worst people in this story have a difficult background or some type of abusive past, just a catalyst for their behaviours and characteristics and by gradually being informed of them you and being given the bigger picture you almost create an individual relationship and opinion on them ranging from hatred to pity. We get amazing development in every single one even the seemingly unimportant ones because even they are given enough backstory to still secure a connection of some kind with them, something I know we can all appreciate as readers.

The relationships.

The main relationship ill focus on is that of the sisters Cass and Emma. I know there are a lot of relationships in this book that over lap and intertwine in really interesting and sometimes awful ways but as these two characters are the basis of our main storyline it makes a little more sense to focus the attention on them

As a huge plot point throughout the story we see that due to the actions of their mother and her lack of genuine maternal instinct and well, love we see the girls in this constant battle of who can earn their mothers love trust and affections first. Which was so heart breaking to read, through their mothers constant manipulation and abuse we see them fighting the resentment and distance that they know is growing between them and sadly a lot of the time losing because of Mrs. Martins influence and involvement. Its very obvious when reading about their mother that her abuse is based around the fear she feels at the idea of any kind of alliance that the girls could potentially form with each other, god forbid they turn against her and out her as a bad mother! So she decides its easier to create a wedge between the two of them by openly favouring one over the other which unfortunately results in a lot of cruel actions from Emma direct at Cass, creating another toxic relationship and situation for the girls to live in. Although we do get the occasional glimpse at these really beautiful and raw moments of sisterhood and love they share deep down. After seeing so much pain in their story it made these moments just that little bit more special and down right beautiful which was a part that i especially adored.

The themes:

In its relatively short amount of pages this book manages to explore a huge variety of themes from love and obsession to betrayal abuse and manipulation, which lets be honest is everything you want in a good thriller book but usually when a writer takes on this many themes I always find some of them are either touched upon very quickly then dismissed and never revisited or thought of again or done so badly with such a lack of care that its obvious they were just included for the author to be able to say they've hit all the key themes a reader would expect a good thriller to hit. Yet Wendy manages to not only explore all of these and more, but manages to do it well and so subtly you don't notice until you sit back and think about them all which to me just shows a writers real talent.

The psychology:

Another huge part of this book and something I adored were the analysis parts of the book, the in-depth look into narcissism and its effects on the children it surrounds.  We are constantly listening to Detective Abby explaining and exploring the characteristics of the people Cass is talking about in her chapters, exploring the connections and the risk factors associated with such a serious disorder as narcissistic personality disorder. I found this to give the story and writing some real merit, it felt like i was reading a psychology book and getting down to the real science of why characters work the way they do and giving the reader a chance to explore it themselves instead of just being told this person has this which is something I cant stand in books. Instead of investing time and effort into helping guide you to a conclusion or even showing you they just tell you this is how it is and expect that to be enough. So frustrating! None the less, this is something I haven't experienced in another book and a technique I hope to see more of!

Similar books:

When reading this I got very strong sharp objects vibes, the fractured relationship between families, focusing on mother and daughter, a highly manipulative mother, an obsession with public facades and the desperate need to keep up appearances and so much more! If you liked sharp objects you will love this, as Emma in the night has all of the important story beats and intrigue that sharp objects has but more intensity and a faster paced story something I felt was missing when I read SO’S.

Over all I adored this book, as you can probably tell and considering it is my first Wendy walker book I can safely say i have fallen in love! I can promise you now this will not be my last read from her collection. I was captivated by her story and her writing which is why i couldn’t recommend this more!

A very very easy 5/5. 

so that's it, thanks for reading my review, i really hope you enjoyed it! sorry if I waffled at all its been awhile since ive written any reviews and am still getting my bearings with it again so please be patient with me. Hope you have a fab week my lovelies, Bye!