e-Audio, 08:21:54
Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld & Zachary Webber
Release Date: September 24, 2024
Published by: HarperAudio
Read from: October 18-19, 2024
Stand-alone
Source: Library’s Libby (I also got an e-ARC from Netgalley but was not into the writing so I decided to give the audio a try when I got it from work)
Content Warning: Gaslighting, Emotional Abuse, Death of a Parent, Injury/Injury Detail, Violence, Kidnapping, Panic Attacks/Disorders, Infidelity, Toxic Friendship
For Readers Interested In: Adult, Dual POV, Holidaze, Sparkly Covers, Most Anticipated, Mystery, Netgalley, Books about BooksKnives Out gets a holiday rom-com twist in this rivals-to-lovers romance-mystery from New York Times bestselling author Ally Carter.
The bridge is out. The phones are down. And the most famous mystery writer in the world just disappeared out of a locked room three days before Christmas.
Meet Maggie Chase and Ethan Wyatt:
She’s the new Queen of the Cozy Mystery.
He’s Mr. Big-time Thriller Guy.
She hates his guts.
He thinks her name is Marcie (no matter how many times she’s told him otherwise.)
But when they both accept a cryptic invitation to attend a Christmas house party at the English estate of a reclusive fan, neither is expecting their host to be the most powerful author in the world: Eleanor Ashley, the Duchess of Death herself.
That night, the weather turns, and the next morning Eleanor is gone.
She vanished from a locked room, and Maggie has to wonder: Is Eleanor in danger? Or is it all some kind of test? Is Ethan the competition? Or is he the only person in that snowbound mansion she can trust?
As the snow gets deeper and the stakes get higher, every clue will bring Maggie and Ethan closer to the truth—and each other. Because, this Christmas, these two rivals are going to have to become allies (and maybe more) if they have any hope of saving Eleanor.
Assuming they don’t kill each other first.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I’m not going to lie…. I had to attempt to read this twice. The very first time I tried reading with my eyeballs, but the language in the first police interview had me rolling my eyes. I didn’t think I was going to make it all the way through. But then I said, “Don’t DNF it, just get the audio.” So I did. And let me tell you, it made a world of a difference.
Ok so I first added this to my TBR because it had a Knives out comparison. And that is my 4th favorite movie of all time. (First 3 belong to the Rush Hours lol) Anyway, after that, I had to at least try again. So I did. So when I got the audio, I was fully prepared to not like this. But since I listen to audio at 3x’s the speed, I was able to get past the cringe part really quickly. And once I got to the actual part where the drama begins, it turns into a whole different story.
I try to always go into a book not really knowing anything about it. And this one was no different. All I knew about it was the cover was great, Knives Out was mentioned in the synopsis before I stopped reading it, and there was a holiday mystery. So basically I didn’t know what I was getting myself into when I finally started reading this. But it was so good. I have read at least 3 locked room murder mysteries this year and I don’t think I enjoyed any of them as much as this one. The mystery itself is so good! A highly acclaimed author goes missing from a locked room. It’s weird because the only people in the house are some of her family members as well as two people she invited. Who just so happen to also be authors. And rivals at that. It gets really interesting when they realize that they might be looking for clues that the missing author has left behind and they have to work together to find her. It was intriguing enough for me to say “wtf” at some points and I had to rewind some other parts. And I also remember sitting down and trying to talk out how she was able to get out of that locked room. I was so confused! And I guarantee you will get the ending wrong. I was actually shocked by the ending. And that hardly ever happens.
As for the romance, I wasn’t exactly sold on it. Like ever. But then again, I’m an enemy to lover hater, so I would have been cussing her out for acting like that to me. But I know that’s just a me thing. I know there will be some people out there that are ok with that so I won’t be too critical. It just wasn’t believable for me. Now when they got down to it and they were starting to fall for each other, I thought their flirting was ok, but the way they were going to hard when they finally made it and it felt over done. But I was happy with the ending when we finally got all the answers.
Idk how to talk about this book without spoiling anything, so I’ll just I really enjoyed it. If you’re going into it looking for something that has a lot of emphasis on Christmas, this isn’t going to do it for you tho. If you’re mainly interested in the mystery, I say get into it. It’s going to Take you away to an estate out in the snow!
Overall, I give this
