DNF at 40%

Unfortunately, I couldn't finish this book. I was extremely bored throughout the 40% that I read and just didn't find anything pulling me back in.

1.5 stars.

So this book was super predictable and formulaic which definitely affected my rating of this book. you get the story of what happened in the past through one of the main character's screenplay.

The way that the characters are described kind of reminds me of the Breakfast Club. However, you don't learn anything else about the characters through the book. All of them know something about the night that the others don't and then we find out the truth and it was just not an enjoyable read.

I ended up kind of rage-reading the book because I was just frustrated and bored with it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bantam for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really thought I would love this one, but Scenes of the Crime failed to capture my attention. It didn't help that I personally didn't like any of the characters and I just didn't feel compelled to care about what was going to happen or that the chapters felt incredibly long.

This book was extremely frustrating. Normally, I love when a story is told from alternating timelines (past & present), but this time the past was told in the form of a screenplay so you never knew if that was the truth or not. The twists & turns were not interesting enough to make it a worthwhile read.

I kept pushing this book to the bottom of the pile because the reviews were not great but I finally decided to suck it up and read it. Probably should've just skipped it altogether. I did not like it at all. The beginning moved pretty quickly but then it dragged on and on and made me want to just skim. None of the characters are likeable. Everything is a serious stretch (how could so many people literally forget murdering someone? Or believing that you did?). The ending was terrible. A knife, then a gun, then a bunch of confusing fighting. It kept reminding me of a Scooby Doo episode: "And I would've gotten away with it too, if not for those pesky kids!"

A wrote down this line because it made my eyes roll so much: "I believed I had finally found someone who cared about me. Not just my vagina, me."

The last sentence of the book (prior to the epilogue although that last sentence was pretty bad too) was almost as cringey.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for the eARC.

The premise of this one had me hooked, but unfortunately the book fell flat for me. It did not hold my interest and I did not really love the way it unfolded.

Fifteen years ago, five college friends (or should we say frenemies) gathered at a remote Oregon Coast winery for spring break. When one of the friends goes missing, the remaining friends all have their own secrets. Secrets that have remained hidden. When Emily spots someone that looks like Vanessa in an LA coffee shop, she immediately sets up a plan to reunite at the winery in hopes of finding out what really happened that night. Emily has interior motives though, as a screenwriter she’s hoping to write (and sell) Vanessa’s story. Arriving at the winery, creepy things start to happen, how could they not with hidden caves under the house, a cliff and a rickety old stair case leading down to the beach? As secrets emerge, Emily writes her script, a script that’s interspersed with the present (a unique approach, but not riveting). Going back and forth in time, we slowly find out what happened to Vanessa on that fateful night … or do we? This book was a story about toxic relationships and with underdeveloped characters that were mostly unlikeable, this one didn’t hold my interest the way it could have. Thank you to Bantam and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I was not a huge fan of this book. Not invested in the unlikable characters an wasn't 'rooting' for any specific character at the end. I will say the thriller genre is quite competitive in that the reader is always expecting a big twist and this one just fell flat for me.

Scenes of the Crime
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: Jilly Gagnon

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Random House Publishing and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: An ambitious screenwriter tries to solve her friend's disappearance by recreating their fateful final girls’ trip in this riveting locked-room mystery from the author of All Dressed Up.
A remote winery. A missing friend. And a bunch of sour grapes.

It should have been the perfect spring break. Five girlfriends. A remote winery on the Oregon coast. An infinite supply of delicious wine at their manicured fingertips. But then their center—beautiful, magnetic Vanessa Morales—vanished without a trace.

Emily Fischer was perhaps the last person to see her alive. But now, years later, Emily spots Vanessa’s doppelganger at a local café. At the end of her rope working a lucrative yet mind-numbing gig on a network sitcom, Emily is inspired to finally tell the story that’s been percolating inside her for so long: Vanessa’s story. But first, she needs to know what really happened on that fateful night. So she puts a brilliant scheme into motion.

She gets the girls together for a reunion weekend at the scene of the crime under the guise of reconnecting. There's Brittany, Vanessa’s cousin and the inheritor of the winery; Paige, a former athlete, bullish yet easily manipulated; and Lydia, the wallflower of the group.

One of them knows the truth. But what have they each been hiding? And how much can Emily trust anything she learns from them… or even her own memories of Vanessa’s last days?

My Thoughts: Over a decade ago, a friend disappeared from the toxic friend group without a trace. Emily is now a screenwriter and wants to not only tell the story but find out what happened with Vanessa. She sets up a girls reunion weekend at the same winery under the facade of reconnecting. Someone knows the truth and everyone has secrets. Will the secrets be their demise? Or will Vanessa finally get justice?

I was really intrigued by the cover and blurb, the premise was so enticing but it fell a little flat for me. I really struggled with this one but I do not like to DNF books, if publishers are gracious enough to allow me to read early, the least I can do is provide a review. While I know this review is late, I had two surgeries this year and trying to get caught up. Sometimes, it was hard to tell what really happened and what was being written for the screenplay. A better distinction of chapters would have made it more clear. This is a slow burn thriller. The book does start to heat up at around 50% when the secrets begin to escape, with the true excitement occurring at about 75% in. The story is narrated in a dual timeline between then and now. Emily is a screenwriter whom is unfullfilled; Brittany is stay-at-home mother, an heiress, and is very entitled; Paige is was an athlete in her younger years and follows Brittany like a puppy would; and Lydia had a hard life and felt like an outcast in the group. The story is narrated by Emily, who was unreliable, unrelateable, and even unlikable. Actually, most of the characters were toxic, unrelateable, and not very likable. The toxicity and drama between the friend group is over the top, even for me.

Overall, it was a good read that I enjoyed. I would recommend to other readers.

Unfortunately, the format of this book, and maybe just because it was an early draft made it really difficult to read. The script like writing did not make me engaged at all. I was not invested in learning the outcome, and I found the romance trope a bit overdone. While it was an interesting idea to leave the script into the book it just really didn’t work for this reader. I was also took a while for the plot to come together in a way that at least motivated me to finish the book.

Perfect summer beach read
Really liked the format of the screenplay throughout
College tragedy. Mean girls. 15 years later.
Quick paced, mindless enjoyment

This book has an interesting twist to the story line. The MC, Emily, is a screen writer. 15 years ago, she and 4 friends vacationed at a winery on the Oregon Coast, where one friend disappeared. Current day, Emily sees a woman in her local coffee shop who looks just like her missing friend. In her aha moment, she decides she could work the story into a script. BUT, it would be alot better if she could close the story with a reveal. What happened to Vanessa 15 yrs ago. So, she sets up a "reunion" of the 4 remaining friends at the same winery as before and......well, this is where you have to read the book. Jilly Gagnon switches the story between Emily's script and the reunion so it's played out in reality and in drama. Definitely different treatment of a missing person story line.

Such a fun mystery thriller book. I really enjoyed it. The five women all soo different and unique. The book did not disappoint. The author did a wonderful job describing the beautiful setting at the winery. Yes, it is a toxic friend group that you would want to avoid, but it keeps yo entertained!!
The twists were incredibly clever, the friendships dark and complex, and the narrator's voice intimate and witty. Great for a glass of wine and a book club discussion!

A mean girl reunion to remember the loss of one of their ringleaders sets the stage for this psychological thriller. Emily, a mediocre writer of a fading series, longs to write the story that will propel her into success. She thinks a story based roughly on the mysterious disappearance of Vanessa, one of the two leaders of the group, might be the one that she can write, but she needs to understand what even happened, Getting in touch with the estranged friends seems too easy and they gather at Brittany’s homestead which is a winery. It has a spooky factor but the relationships are awkward and unfriendly from the beginning. It makes you wonder why they even agreed to gather in the first place. Allegiances are revealed and secrets uncovered. The story is interesting despite the characters lack of connection. It held my interest and was wondering where it would go. I enjoyed it - sometimes infuriating characters can be very engaging.

Hard review for me to write. I was super excited about reading this, as I currently live in Portland, OR and am loving the wineries out here. I love thrillers and locked room books - so why not put those together? For some reason, this book was just not it. I really just didn't feel connected to any of the characters or the plot. The book dragged for me until about the 80% mark - I finally felt like we were getting some action and truly there really wasn't that much. The screenplay aspect of the book (or mixed media) was what set the book apart and kept it interesting to me.

I finished this book only because I was genuinely confused, not intrigued or trying to figure out who did it, but fully confused. Maybe that was the point of the book, the psychological twisty who is really the bad guy? But it went too far into muddy waters and I didn't like it personally.

Reading Between the Wines book review #118/115(met goal in Sept!) for 2023:
Rating: 3 🍷🍷🍷
Book: Scenes of the Crime
Author: Jilly Gagnon
Available Now!!

Sipping thoughts: Typical group of frenemies that have secrets that they are keeping from each other. Lies told over years of friendship. A disappearance. No one is who they seem. I think this was just okay. I didn’t care too much for the ending.

Cheers and thank you to @RandomHousePublishingGroup and @Netgalley for an advanced copy of @ScenesoftheCrime.

#ScenesoftheCrime #JillyGagnon #RandomHousePublishingGroup #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #GeneralFictionAdult

The story revolves around five friends in college who are staying at a winery owned by the grandparents of two of the friends. One of the granddaughters, Vanessa, vanishes.

Fifteen years later, Emily Fischer, a screenwriter, thinks she sees Vanessa and prompts her to suggest a reunion for closure at the same winery. Emily hopes to write Vanessa's story. Two in the group of friends had remained in touch while the others had grown apart. As Emily tries to draw the group into discussing Vanessa, it becomes apparent that each one has secrets.

Vanessa's story is revealed in the form of a screenplay between the chapters, depicting what could have happened.

I found it difficult to connect with any of the characters because they were all so vengeful and guarded.d. It was hard to see that there was ever a friendship between any of them. There was a nice twist in the end.

I received an advanced reader's copy and voluntarily read and reviewed this book.

A group of friends gets together for a weekend of fun. The problem being that they really aren’t very friend like - in actuality are quite toxic - and Vanessa disappears. Forward 15 year and the remaining crew gets back together - as toxic as ever. It was not a pleasant read - just too much negativity and toxicity. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read.

Thank you to netgalley and random house for a copy of the boom to read for an honest review. I had a hard time connecting with any characters. I felt it was like a mean girls reunion with dangerous situations. You may like it so still check it out!