Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!

Links to books I reviewed

Purple Star emoji 8 items
Here you can find links to shops I am affiliated with, especially from every book that I have read! If I enjoyed it, you can find the link to buy said book here #LiveYourLifeReading
Sections
1
 

Amazon

In this list, you can find all the books I read and I will sahre every review and affiliate link to amazon with you guys. Lets read >3

 
Marrit Beekman profile picture
Try Amazon prime free for 30 days!
Amazon.nl: Amazon Prime
 
Marrit Beekman profile picture
Here it is at last: the new book by Chloë van Silfhout! 

When I was asked to join the blog tour for her new release, I simply couldn’t say no. I think I would dive into any of Chloë’s books without hesitation, and that’s exactly what I did this time as well. Unfortunately, a few things came up that made it... 

Through this, you uncover information that raises more and more questions, details that confuse and make everyone seem suspicious. From the beginning, I didn’t really trust anyone in the story, and Chloë executed that incredibly well. Even Shanna, wh... 

What I found very beautiful is how Chloë weaves grief into the story, clearly distinguishing between collective grief after an attack and the grief for a specific individual. Everyone is mourning, but when you are there because of one particular pers... 

Chloë has a wonderful writing style. You fly through the book (pun intended); it’s written in a fairly poetic and emotional way, filled with quotes and reflections that carry psychological or philosophical undertones. The words and events hit you, th... 

That said, I quickly noticed the difference between a series and a standalone like The Passenger. 
In a series, there’s much more time for character development, for building and concluding a story, and for layering the elements that keep you engaged. In The Passenger, things move faster—you can feel that events happen more quickly, sometimes thin... 

However, I have to say that the ending completely blew me away! The story is divided into three distinct parts with a slightly different structure. In parts one and two, I was left with question after question, and in part three, all those questions ... 

Part three is what shifted my rating from a borderline four stars to almost five stars, and I truly didn’t see that coming. That’s not because the rest was disappointing; the book was enjoyable, well-written, and clearly well thought out. It just did... 

Seriously, Chloë, how do you do it, again?! From a good book to a mind-blower in 3… 2… 1… I find it incredibly impressive, very original, and thought-provoking. It went from a book I enjoyed but didn’t necessarily connect with in terms of subject or ... 

Thank you again, Chloë, for this beautiful book! I’m already looking forward to the next one. I give The Passenger 4.75 stars!

 ~ Live Your Life Reading
De passagier
 
Marrit Beekman profile picture
After the TBS series and Sterrenstof, I have to admit I was a bit hesitant to start Alibi. Still, I’m reading this series together with the samenlezenwe club, so quitting wasn’t really an option. And let’s be honest: anything related to psychology wi... 

What immediately stands out is Martine Kamphuis’ writing style. It’s accessible, smooth, and easy to get into. The way she uses time jumps also works really well. 

Wynona Post gives me mixed feelings. On one hand, I recognize myself in her thoughts and the way she views the world. On the other hand, she frustrates me at times. She’s in her early 30s, but often comes across much younger in her behavior, almost l... 

She’s full of contradictions: strict when it comes to others, but more lenient with herself, while also setting an incredibly high bar for herself. That makes her interesting, but also difficult to fully grasp. 

Her character development in this book feels somewhat abrupt and predictable, as if certain steps are skipped. 

The story itself has a strong foundation: a death, an investigation, and a theme surrounding hazing. Interesting, but also quite predictable for me. The sense of danger is built up well, but ultimately comes from a direction that doesn’t really surpr... 

What I did really enjoy: the prologue and the therapy sessions. That’s where the true strength of the book lies for me. 

Alibi touches on themes like loneliness, suppression, and jealousy, and definitely has potential. I just missed that extra layer of depth to make it truly impactful. 

Despite my doubts, I did read it with interest. 

3.25 ⭐

~ Live Your Life Reading
Alibi (WP thriller (1) (Dutch Edition)
placeholder
 
Marrit Beekman profile picture
Via WPG-kinderboeken, two new books have been added to the Thrillseekers series. From the first two parts, I was especially a fan of Speler 13. I really enjoy these shorter stories, because they’re perfect to read in between other books. They also al... 

The first one I picked up was Follow Me by Shanna de Jong. And I’ll be completely honest: my reason for choosing this one first wasn’t entirely positive. I had the option to choose, so I deliberately picked the story that appealed to me the least. Th... 

Shanna de Jong clearly knows what a short story needs: action, twists and suspense. Her writing style is very engaging, and you can easily finish the story within an hour. It really feels like you’re flying through it. She creates interesting charact... 

What I do notice, however, is that with short stories it can sometimes be difficult to fully build up a believable plot. These books can’t really be compared to full-length thrillers, and I feel like I would need to read a longer book to form a final... 

I enjoyed Mia’s story overall. Characters like her father, who runs a veterinary clinic, and Bliksem — the dog who eats socks — will definitely stick with me. My partner actually has a cat named Bliksem, so I had to mention that. I even casually told... 

After a very fast build-up, the action doesn’t really slow down and one event follows another. There were several moments where I covered my face, wondering what kind of 16-year-old girl would ever do something like this in real life, and reading in ... 

That said, you do have to let go of realism a bit. Because honestly, it wasn’t very realistic at all. I know it’s fiction and imagination is part of that, but with thrillers I personally appreciate it when the story feels like it could actually happe... 

I also would have liked a clearer ending with real consequences, instead of things just… fading out or being wrapped up too easily. 

Without giving too much away, I definitely noticed a strong sense of implausibility. 

What stood out to me is that this book managed to both captivate me and make me raise my eyebrows at the same time, something that rarely happens for me. 

In the end, Follow Me turned out to be an enjoyable read with lots of action, animals as a bonus, and dark events with a sort of “all’s well that ends well” ending, depending on your perspective. I definitely enjoyed reading it, and I would absolutel... 

I would recommend this book to readers who want to get to know her work, younger audiences, or anyone looking for a quick, intense and slightly dark adrenaline rush while reading. 

I’m already ready for the next book in this fun series, are you? 

I give Follow Me 3.75 stars! 


~ Live Your Life Reading
Volg me
 
Marrit Beekman profile picture
And just like that, I finished the fourth book in the Thrillseekers series… I honestly wonder how many more books will be added to this intense and thrilling series. I don’t know, but they are incredibly enjoyable for both inexperienced and experienc...

I had never heard of Pamela Sharon before, so this was a completely new experience for me. Just like every time, I want to mention again how accessible short stories are when it comes to discovering new authors and figuring out whether their writing ... 

Another huge plus is that all these authors are Dutch, which gives you the chance to discover and support talent from your own country. Because honestly? Especially when it comes to thrillers, I rarely pick up books written by Dutch authors. Actually... 

Going back to Pamela Sharon for a moment: she has previously written books like De geur van groen and Fluister het tegen de sterren. I haven’t read them myself yet, so I can’t say much about them, but after reading this story I’m definitely curious. ... 

The story is told from Jay’s perspective in first person, which worked perfectly because his emotions are such an important part of the story. Jay lost his older brother to drowning years ago, and nobody ever truly found out what happened. Since then... 

What stood out to me the most was how deeply Jay’s emotions affected me. As someone with C-PTSD, the way his reactions were written hit me straight in the soul. I genuinely struggled with it at times while reading. The tension he felt, the way he con... 

Even though it’s a short story, it still felt surprisingly complete to me. The pacing worked really well, the tension built up naturally, and the italic pieces at the start of each chapter added something meaningful to the story. Combined with a beau... 

At the same time, the book somehow felt exactly long enough while also feeling slightly too short. I think that’s mostly because the ending felt a little abrupt to me, especially the final pages, while at the same time I honestly don’t think the stor... 

Not every topic in the story was fully within my personal preferences, purely because some themes just aren’t completely my thing. That’s why I can’t quite give it a full 5 stars. But honestly? For a short story, it comes incredibly close. I barely h... 

~Live Your Life Reading
Het meisje in het meer
 
Marrit Beekman profile picture
Wat hebben een leraar Engels op weg naar huis, een bejaarde man in zijn achtertuin en een makelaar in de stad met elkaar gemeen? In de ogen van hun moordenaar genoeg, maar die ziet het niet als moord als de dood verdiend is. Een milde belediging krij... 

Toen ik ooit begon aan De Sleuteldrager-serie van Charlotte de Winter wist ik eigenlijk niet zo goed wat ik moest verwachten, behalve dan iets nieuw. Thrillers met een bovennatuurlijk tintje trekken altijd meteen mijn aandacht en dat was precies de r... 

Wat ik nog steeds heel leuk vind aan deze serie, is dat het meer is dan alleen een thriller. De mysterieuze sfeer, de Halfwegen, Kaii en de constante vraagtekens onderweg zorgen ervoor dat je wil blijven doorlezen. Vooral het onbekende perspectief in... 

De schrijfstijl leest nog steeds fijn weg, al voelt het voor mij persoonlijk meer als Young Adult dan echt volwassene Fantasy Thriller. De perspectiefwisselingen zijn heel vloeiend gedaan en komen op precies de juiste momenten, echt knap als je dat z... 

De groei die je ziet bij alle karakters is wel heel mooi om te zien! Ik gunde het Robyn en Finlay zo om daar te komen waar ze wilden zijn. Het was zo mooi om ondanks de zware weg toch het vertrouwen in zichzelf en elkaar te kunnen vinden en een cirke... 

Ik merkte opnieuw dat ik sommige personages lastig vind om echt van elkaar te onderscheiden of een sterke band mee op te bouwen. Tegelijkertijd voelt het inmiddels wel vertrouwder doordat je deze karakters nu al langer volgt, dus ik heb er minder las... 

De stukjes die schuingedrukt zijn, waren voor mij het leukste deel van het verhaal, ookal wist ik al over wie deze stukjes gingen. Ze gaven meer diepte aan het verhaal en meer inzage in ‘de bad guy’ van het verhaal en diens psyche. Het enige wat ik z... 

En het einde.. het einde was een perfecte afronding. Het liefst deel ik waarom en wat er gebeurde, maar dat moeten jullie maar lekker zelf gaan lezen 😛 

Dit boek heeft wel gevoelige onderwerpen, waaronder SA, maar los daarvan is dit boek en dus deze serie perfect geschikt voor thriller-lovers die ook van wat romance en veel bovennatuurlijke elementen houden! 

Als laatste moet ik moet ik ook even iets zeggen over die cover, want ook deel 3 ziet er weer prachtig en mysterieus uit!! Voor mij een aanrader dus, met wat kanttekeningen. 
Check ook de andere deelnemers van de blogtour voor meer meningen ❤ 

Ik geef ‘Sleutel tot vernietiging’ 3,75 sterren! 


~Live Your Life Reading
Sleutel tot vernietiging
 
Marrit Beekman profile picture
After being disappointed by book 0.5 and book 1, I started this second installment with fairly low expectations. The earlier books felt predictable to me, and I struggled quite a bit with the main character, WP. Still, I was curious to see whether th... 

One thing that has always worked well is Martine’s writing style. It is easy to read, engaging, and makes the pages fly by. The familiar characters and story elements also make it very easy to jump back into the series, even after some time away. 

The biggest improvement for me was WP herself. In the previous books, I often found her frustrating. She seemed quick to judge others while missing important things about herself, and I frequently questioned some of her decisions. Because of that, I ... 

This time, however, I finally saw meaningful growth. WP begins to gain important insights about herself, her relationships, and the patterns in her life. Watching her slowly take steps toward becoming the person she wants to be was both satisfying an... 

The story itself also kept my attention much more than the earlier installments. Themes such as friendship, relationships, domestic abuse, and personal growth are woven into the plot in an interesting way. For the first time in this series, I became ... 

Not everything worked perfectly for me. The ongoing romantic storylines are still not entirely my thing, and some characters continue to frustrate me. However, those issues no longer overshadowed my enjoyment of the book. 

What made this novel stand out is that it finally delivered the growth and healing I had been hoping to see for two books. Because of that, it became my favorite installment in the series so far. 

4 out of 5 stars for me!

~ Live Your Life Reading
Spiegelbeeld (WP thriller Book 2) (Dutch Edition)
 
Marrit Beekman profile picture
When Fataal Spel was released, it immediately went onto my wishlist. Unfortunately, it came out during a period when I had almost completely stopped reading, so it remained unread for years. When I finally found this hardcover on Vinted, I knew it wa... 

In Fataal Spel, Jessie disappears and Carmen seems to be the only one who immediately senses that this is more than a simple missing-person case. As she starts receiving mysterious notes, photographs, riddles and threats, that feeling only grows stro... 

One of the strongest aspects of this story is how alone Carmen ultimately feels. Even though people around her try to help, this remains her personal battle. The nightmares, visions and constant threats make her search not only suspenseful, but emoti... 

What kept me turning the pages was the constant action. Something is always happening, which keeps the story moving at a fast pace. You keep questioning, theorizing and reading because you need to know how everything fits together. The first-person n... 

Themes of trust, distrust and family bonds play an important role throughout the novel. As Carmen struggles to figure out who she can trust, the story also explores how deeply family can influence a person's choices and actions. 

While I occasionally wished for a little more emotional depth, the book more than makes up for it with suspense, danger and action. The biggest surprise wasn't necessarily what happened, but why it happened. That motivation gave the ending an even st... 

Fataal Spel exceeded my expectations and has become my favorite Chinouk Thijssen book so far. If you're looking for a fast-paced YA thriller filled with secrets, twists and constant tension, I highly recommend it! 

⭐ 4.5/5 


~ Live Your Life Reading 

#fataalspel #chinoukthijssen #youngadult #yathriller #thrillerbooks #bookreview #bookstagram #booklover #readingcommunity #liveyourlifereading
Fataal spel