Flynn's girlfriend, January, is missing. All eyes are on Flynn—he must know something. After all, he was—is—her boyfriend. They were together the night before she disappeared.

But Flynn has a secret of his own. As he struggles to uncover the truth about January's disappearance, he must also face the truth about himself.


One fall night, January was last seen leaving her private school. She never came home and no one had heard from her since. Not her distant mother, politician step father, psychotic step brother, or even her boyfriend Flynn. While Flynn tries to figure out what happened to January, he’s led down a path of discovery that reveals January wasn’t the person he thought she was, as are none of the other people in her life the way she made them out to be.

Initially I was intrigued by the mystery side of Last Seen Leaving, but as I kept reading it felt like it became two conflicting stories. On one side there was the disappearance of January, and the mystery behind what happened to her – following the clues, and the whodunit, Flynn playing the role of the loyal boyfriend. On the other side is Flynn hiding a giant secret, which inevitably comes out, and to seems to take over the entire narrative overshadowing the plot of previously mentioned missing girlfriend.

Without going into too much detail and giving anything away, basically it began to feel like it was more about Flynn finding himself than January, and dealing with the fallout from the revelations of his personal life than the actual disappearance of his girlfriend, which was not the story I was expecting going in.

Flynn is a likeable character and I sympathized with him for the most part. He was January’s boyfriend and the prime suspect in her disappearance, as usually happens when something like this occurs. It’s understandable that he’s under a lot of stress and he doesn’t necessarily make the wisest decisions.

Much of the time I felt like the author was trying to sell me something, as if he was paid to write product advertising into the book – similar to product placement in television shows. It became obnoxious - constantly mentioning Lexus, smooth rides, and supple leather seats, iPhones, etc, when a simple mention of “we got into his car” would have been sufficient. I don’t know if this is a thing now, but if it is, I’m begging you, please make it stop! It reminded me of when you watch a tv show and they add a whole unnecessary scene with the characters waiting for their new car to back up and park itself just for the benefit of showing the audience *barf*. Give me a break. Books are a place we’re supposed to be safe from that crap! If this wasn’t intentional, I’m sorry to Mr. Roehrig, but this is how it came off. I understand a high level of detail can immerse a reader into the story, but I think there's a line where it can be too much. Last Seen Leaving crossed that line for me.

Overall, I give it three stars, mainly because I felt the story lines were conflicting and it didn't feel like one arc but two. I know some readers will greatly disagree with me, and that's okay! Perhaps I wasn't in the right mood for it, but I wouldn't rule out reading it completely. If you're a fan of mystery, some romance, and some back and forth with the story, give it a shot!

*I received a copy of book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The first installment of an adventure featuring stolen books, secret agents and forbidden societies - think Doctor Who with librarian spies!

Irene must be at the top of her game or she'll be off the case - permanently...

Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, which harvests fiction from different realities. And along with her enigmatic assistant Kai, she's posted to an alternative London. Their mission - to retrieve a dangerous book. But when they arrive, it's already been stolen. London's underground factions seem prepared to fight to the very death to find her book.
Adding to the jeopardy, this world is chaos-infested - the laws of nature bent to allow supernatural creatures and unpredictable magic. Irene's new assistant is also hiding secrets of his own.
Soon, she's up to her eyebrows in a heady mix of danger, clues and secret societies. Yet failure is not an option - the nature of reality itself is at stake.









“Don’t be ridiculous…we may collect fiction, but we are not required to imitate the stupider parts of it.”

“…chases through the street, dangerously flamboyant personalities, [and] cyborg alligators” – this perfectly sums up the crazy whirlwind that is The Invisible Library. It truly took me by surprise. I went in expecting one thing, and the opening scene totally threw me for a loop. I was picturing Irene as the maid from The Leaky Cauldron in The Prisoner of Azkaban, then all of a sudden she’s being chased by gargoyles and running for a magic portal into the Library! From there the real story begins in earnest, and you get to see Irene in a whole new light.



The Library lives in this in-between place, between universes/dimensions/realities, that is also impervious to time. When in the library, you don’t age, and no one can be born or die. It’s a very interesting concept really. The Library has those that work for it – from what I gathered they recruit those that have no families; people who wouldn’t be missed. Librarians live long lives in their service, spending their younger years retrieving rare books from alternate worlds for the Library’s collection, and retiring to their research once they’re older (they age while out of the library). For the Library, and its Librarians, books matter above all else. They do not interfere in the worlds themselves.

Irene is unique in that both her parents are Librarians; she was raised with the Library. It’s all she’s ever wanted to be. After returning from her mission from the opening of the novel, she’s immediately assigned a new one, and a new assistant, Kai. Neither of them is prepared for this, or for the state of the alternate they’ve been assigned. Each alternate world is unique; there is magic, fae, werewolves, dragons, and all kinds of fictional and mythical creatures and the like in existence in different places, to varying degrees. In this particular world, chaos has taken hold and there’s a great deal of the supernatural. As the synopsis says, their mission is to retrieve a dangerous book, but by the time they arrive, the book has already been stolen. True to her job and love for the Library, Irene and Kai go undercover to find it and end up on a path that is far more dangerous than she ever dreamed.


As I said before, The Invisible Library took me by surprise. I went in not sure what really to expect and I ended up loving every minute of it. The story took so many twists and turns and was so full of imagination! The idea of multiple dimensions has always intrigued me, and the idea of this Library being at the center of it all it really interesting, but creepy at the same time. The Library has the ability to travel between the alternates, and possibly do real good and help people, but it won’t, all it cares about it its quest for knowledge and keeping itself hidden. I also really appreciate that the dimensions can be so wildly different, not just some are space age and some are like the dark ages, but some have magic and supernatural creatures. It's very steampunk crossed with magic and fantasy, with a good mix of all.


Overall, I give it a 5 out of 5! The writing was clever and on point. Cogman knew how to make me laugh out loud and keep me on the edge of my seat. I was able to guess a few of the twists but some I didn’t see coming at all. I have a few theories for book two, which I can’t wait to see if I’m right about! The great thing about The Invisible Library is that the whole series is already written and was released in the UK, so we won’t have to wait long between releases!

The Invisible Library is available June 14th with The Masked City, book two, scheduled to publish September 6th, and The Burning Page, book three, scheduled to publish on December 6th! How awesome is that?! So mark your calendars and add them to your TBR!

*Disclosure: I received a galley of this book through Netgalley, but this opinion is entirely my own.

No One Knows is a suspense thriller that opens on the day Aubrey Hamilton's husband is declared dead, 5 years after his mysterious disappearance. Aubrey has been living a shadow of a life since the fateful night, Josh, was last seen, and she was falsely accused of murdering him for a large insurance payout. 5 million dollars to be exact.

Goodreads

Now 5 years later, the courts have finally declared him legally dead and people want that money. Aubrey's friends invite her out and she meets a mysterious man that reminds her so much of Josh that she can't help herself. She starts to open up and her world is once again turned upside down as everything she thought she knew about the last 5 years might be a lie.

I wasn’t prepared to be sucked into No One Knows like I was – normally thrillers don’t hook me in that way. The story is unveiled through a series of back and forth from then and now, through the years of the main characters’ lives and point of views. Sometimes I hate this type of storytelling, but it really worked here, and it definitely helped keep the twists and turns from revealing themselves too early.

J.T. Ellison managed to have me loving and hating Aubrey, Josh, Tyler, and Chase from beginning to end, which is not a very easy feat. Definitely a good read for fans of Gone Girl or Dark Places, mystery/suspense and is set to publish March 22, 2016.

Are you into thrillers, murder/mysteries? Any suggestions for my next read?