Death in a Budapest Butterfly | Book Review

Death in a Budapest Butterfly 

- Julia Buckley 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Description from Goodreads

Hana Keller serves up European-style cakes and teas in her family-owned tea house, but when a customer keels over from a poisoned cuppa, Hana and her tea-leaf reading grandmother will have to help catch a killer in the first Hungarian Tea House Mystery from Julia Buckley.

Hana Keller and her family run Maggie's Tea House, an establishment heavily influenced by the family's Hungarian heritage and specializing in a European-style traditional tea service. But one of the shop's largest draws is Hana's eccentric grandmother, Juliana, renowned for her ability to read the future in the leaves at the bottom of customers' cups. Lately, however, her readings have become alarmingly ominous and seemingly related to old Hungarian legends...

When a guest is poisoned at a tea event, Juliana’s dire predictions appear to have come true. Things are brought to a boil when Hana’s beloved  Anna Weatherley butterfly teacup becomes the center of the murder investigation as it carried the poisoned tea. The cup is claimed as evidence by a handsome police detective, and the pretty Tea House is suddenly endangered.  Hana and her family must catch the killer to save their business and bring the beautiful Budapest Butterfly back home where it belongs.

My Review

Beauty meets death in this new series by Julia Buckley, which features Hungarian culture, family, and folklore. The Hungarian elements mixed with the cozy mystery nicely, making this a fun, unique read. It was fascinating learning about Easter European history and culture (and yummy food), and the slightly paranormal aspect was entertaining without being overly unrealistic. I love that the Budapest Butterfly is a Hungarian tea cup and that Hana loves it just because it is beautiful. 

However, the romance was way too insta-lovey, but levels off in a good way, and the police investigation wasn't as realistic, but that is to be expected in a cozy. 

Overall, I did really enjoy this book. I read it in less than a day! I look forward to reading the next book in the series. 

Disclosure: I obtained a copy of this eARC for review through NetGalley. The opinions expressed are my own.

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You | Book Review!

You by Caroline Kepnes

⭐⭐⭐⭐

 Description from the Publisher

“[A] beautifully crafted thriller that will give you chills.” (People magazine)

From debut author Caroline Kepnes comes You, one of Suspense Magazine’s Best Books of 2014, and a brilliant and terrifying novel for the social media age.

When a beautiful, aspiring writer strides into the East Village bookstore where Joe Goldberg works, he does what anyone would do: he Googles the name on her credit card.

There is only one Guinevere Beck in New York City. She has a public Facebook account and Tweets incessantly, telling Joe everything he needs to know: she is simply Beck to her friends, she went to Brown University, she lives on Bank Street, and she’ll be at a bar in Brooklyn tonight—the perfect place for a “chance” meeting.

As Joe invisibly and obsessively takes control of Beck’s life, he orchestrates a series of events to ensure Beck finds herself in his waiting arms. Moving from stalker to boyfriend, Joe transforms himself into Beck’s perfect man, all while quietly removing the obstacles that stand in their way—even if it means murder.

A terrifying exploration of how vulnerable we all are to stalking and manipulation, debut author Caroline Kepnes delivers a razor-sharp novel for our hyper-connected digital age. You is a compulsively readable page-turner that’s being compared to Gone Girl, American Psycho, and Stephen King’s Misery.

My Review

Page Count: 424 pgs./11 hrs. 

Narrator: Santino Fontana

Genre: Thriller

Series: You, Book 1
CW: violence, murder, graphic language, stalking, drug abuse, sexual scenes

This book was an insane ride! Holy cow! This was an excellent novel, and the plot was very well done. Kepnes writes in a way that makes the narrator, Joe Goldberg, somewhat relatable and compels the reader to sympathize with him...at least until the reader remembers all of the awful actions Joe has done. It is tremendously thought-provoking as well as entertaining.

I listened to this audiobook through Scribd, and I highly recommend it. Listening to Joe's voice as he stalks Beck gives the reader a very visceral experience, and exacerbates the thrill. The pacing was well done, and the narrator gave me chills throughout the novel. 

Kepnes did an outstanding job of capturing Joe's psyche and stalking behaviors. Writing the novel from his perspective was a very good choice and really added to the story. It was creepy, engaging, and very disturbing. 

The only thing that kept me from giving You five stars is that I did find the story a bit predictable. However, this did not detract from my reading experience. I HIGHLY recommend listening to this on audiobook! 


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