12 Days of Christmas – Day #7 – A Final Book Review
Hello friends and Merry Christmas!
It’s Tuesday and just a few more days left until the holiday …are you ready? If not, don’t stress you’ll get it all done. I hope everyone is doing well today, enjoying some Christmas Holiday fun, and checking in with friends and family.
Today’s post may not be holiday themed, but I thought I would add this in. I’m sharing my final book review of the year in the Good Reads Challenge and anticipated reads for 2023. So…on it goes!
Final Book Review of 2022!
Title | Lock Every Door
Author | Riley Sager
Pages | 381
Genre | Mystery, Thriller
GR Rating | 3.81
Purchase | Amazon
Synopsis
No visitors. No nights spent away from the apartment. No disturbing the other residents, all of whom are rich or famous or both. These are the only rules for Jules Larsen’s new job as an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew, one of Manhattan’s most high-profile and mysterious buildings. Recently heartbroken and just plain broke, Jules is taken in by the splendor of her surroundings and accepts the terms, ready to leave her past life behind.
My Rating & Review (☆☆☆☆)
I truly enjoy all things Riley Sagar, and (no surprise) the novels I’ve read over the past year have been a delight.
Lock Every Door is basically summed up as…” the shit that rich people get away with”, or “what rich people think they are entitled to”. This is a story about an exclusive address in Manhattan. The Bartholomew is a behemoth of a building. Its classic gothic gargoyles and features have been premiered in every major movie or magazine, and the tenants are exclusive.
from Lock Every Door
“Because here’s the thing about being poor—most people don’t understand it unless they’ve been there themselves. They don’t know what a fragile balancing act it is to stay afloat and that if, God forbid, you momentarily slip underwater, how hard it is to resurface.”
Famous or infamous doctors, lawyers, and former starlets reside at the Bartholomew. However, this building also houses a few other unknown residents. House sitters are regulars at the building as the tenant bylaws (or whatever) have established that no apartment should be empty. Here enters your average house-sitter.
Paid to say in the apartment no less than 3 months for whopping $12,000 dollars. But there are a few rules. No pictures, no social media, no outside guests, and no nights spent outside the Bartholomew. Sounds simple enough right..? So why are housesitters disappearing?
Enter our main character Jules, who was recently laid off from her job and split from a cheating boyfriend, Jules needs a fresh start. She can’t continue to sleep on her friends’ couch so she figures that house sitting at the Bartholomew is a great way to earn some cash and get back on her feet.
from Lock Every Door
“Pain equals clarity. Clarity equals survival.”
At the initial interview, Jules was given the rules, told she would be paid in cash, and not to pester the residents, but she couldn’t help herself and would try to be personable when she could. Jules would befriend Ingrid (another house sitter) located directly below the apartment she was sitting.
They would start to send notes back and forth via the dumbwaiter, and after a grocery collision in the lobby, they would start to meet in the park and become friends. Jules and Ingrid would research and dig into the Bartholomew’s sorted past of suicides and bizarre murders.
from Lock Every Door
“Every so often, life offers you a reset button. When it does, you need to press it as hard as you can.”
When Ingrid failed to meet Jules at the park one afternoon, Jules would become concerned and start to ask questions. It didn’t help that the woman who hired Jules said that she up and quit in the middle of the night with no warning. Jules knew something was wrong and began to unravel what happened to her friend and the disappearance of all the missing house sitters.
This modern-day mystery was perfect and delves into past and present evils of the occult, and mystery surrounding the Bartholomew.
(I’ve completed my 2022 Good Reads Challenge even though I had to pause one Audible “exclusive” book halfway through because my subscription gave out. Maybe one day I’ll finish it but right now my coins are mine, so no extra money for subscription services)
2023 Good Reads Challenge!
It’s on! I’m ready (even giddy) to start a whole new challenge for 2023. Here’s what’s on my list.
The Book of Cold Cases, by Simone St. James
The Paris Apartment, by Lucy Foley
The House Across the Lake, by Riley Sager
How to Sell a Haunted House, by Grady Hendrix
The Only One Left, by Riley Sager
Rules for Vanishing, by Kate Alice Marshall
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, by Grady Hendrix
Plain Bad Heroines, by Emily M. Danforth
Screaming for Pleasure: How Horror Makes You Happy and Health, by S. A. Bradley
A House With Good Bones, by T. Kingfisher
Chasinging the Boogeyman, by Richard Chizmar
My list is exactly 11 books. Why do you say? Because I want a little wiggle room to add some upcoming titles. Normally as my mood changes so do my taste in books. So this is a nice modest list for now and I can’t wait to get started.
What’s On My Holiday Playlist
I know this was last week but I forgot to include the song preview.
Well friends that will end my post today. I’ll be back with more in the 12 Days of Christmas. (It will be Christmas themed I promise…LOL) Thanks so much for visiting, and Happy Holidays.
