UNWRAPPING BOOKS DECIDES WHAT I READ 🎁 first thriller of the year! Wrapped Up Episode 5 reading vlog

Hi everyone! I hope you're good. Welcome back to my channel and welcome to another episode of Wrapped Up. If you don't know, Wrapped Up is a series I started at Christmas on my channel but I've decided to continue once a month. Actually at the time I wrapped up all of my TBR but it's whittled down to about 40 books at the moment. I had to unwrap some, some were never wrapped because of videos and then I have massively received so many books for my birthday and Christmas. So actually I've got a whole book cart down here which you probably see in my videos of all my other books but these are the ones that are still wrapped up. Oh my god I just hurt that book. I don't know what it is but now it's called a puncture. Get off your high horse and have some respect. Basically once a month now I am going to be unwrapping however many books a week and reading them in this video. This week I am busy. It's already Tuesday and I've got until like Saturday evening because this video goes up on Sunday. I have been struggling to read this year just as much as I would like to usually. I've definitely been in a little bit of a reading slump but that's all because of uni and like how crazy busy I've been with uni. So I think I'm gonna aim for one to two books in this video. I think that's realistic. I'm hoping for two. I feel like two is realistic. I feel a bit more excited to read than I have at other points this year. Does that sound like something you want? It is. Well let me tell you, you'll never get it. I'm very excited. Wrapped Up is like my favourite video on my channel. It feels so magical to unwrap the book and not to know what's underneath it. So I'm really excited. Let's just dive into it. I know I always pick the white ones but I've just been like looking at this book. I don't know what it is so it could be something I don't want to read but something about it. When I know I've been about to film this video for the past couple of days this book has been pulling me in. So let's... I have no idea. Okay I'm nervous. I forgot how nervous this made me. Oh my god it's not opening. I'm trying not to look. Oh! Okay I was gonna read this actually for another video or I was debating it for a video next month but we'll just read it now. We'll just read it now. Okay so this is, I'll show you here, The Sanatorium by Sarah Pierce. This is an ARC that was very kindly sent to me by the publisher. It was actually my first ever ARC. When does this come out? I think this comes out like in the next couple days. It should be definitely out by the time this video comes out. So this is about a woman who goes to this hotel that is a converted like out of an old sanatorium. Why would you do that firstly? It's like in a really isolated location in the out. I believe that her brother's fiancee goes missing there and then another girl apparently has gone missing and it's just like super like nervy and no one knows what's going on. Oh my god I'm just so excited. This is one of my most anticipated books of the year. It seems like my kind of book if it's done well. Like that suspense, that isolation, like being trapped. I love that in my thrillers. Like that's the best kind of thrill to me is isolation. I'm so excited. Okay I can't wait to read this and it feels like perfect timing because it's literally just about to come out. So yeah I'm gonna go start it and I will let you know what I think. Oh my god I love this series so much. Several days later. Okay so I lied to you once again. The level of unprofessionalism far too much. I'm only gonna read this book and this vlog. I hope that's okay. Usually in the wrapped up videos I've only ever read one anyway but it's already Friday and I've only read 30 pages of this. It's Friday evening. You guys I don't want to keep talking about how uni is like ruining my life but I'm just so I'm busier than I've ever been with it. Like it's gonna be over in a couple months but I'm really busy with it and I'm not having fun. It is making it hard to read. I mean I'm currently on track for my goodreads goal of reading 100 books. So like I'm not doing terribly. I just don't feel the want to read in the evenings or stuff like that anymore like that much at the moment. Like I just want to chill out with my boyfriend and like watch something and like just like cut my brain off. But I need to start also in the evening not spending so much time on social media. What the problems of uni? I'll probably cut this out because no one cares. The problem with uni is I'm doing a journalism degree and I don't want to go into journalism anymore and one of our modules that I'm doing right now is live news production. So that takes up two days. That's Thursday and Friday and you've got to be prepping for it Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Like doing interviews, emailing people for interviews etc to produce the news on Thursday and Friday. And so I hate Thursday and Friday because I feel like I'm doing pointless stuff that I don't care about that I'm like I'm not going to go into journalism and I just wish this wasn't taking up all of my time. And like it takes me a day to edit usually so that's like two days gone so that's four days gone and I've got to make a documentary and I've got a law module I'm doing as well. So then like where's the time to read and film and whatever you know? Like I just wish I just wish I wasn't doing those days but I've only got four weeks right? Yeah I've only got four weeks left of those days. Like I said I'm only 35 pages into the sanatorium but I have really liked what I've read so far. It has started off like shablam like it's like y'all got a bitch blown away. Our main protagonist is going to this hotel the sanatorium to meet her brother who she hasn't seen in ages but there's this other storyline of like these people in this gas mask attacking people so it was like a prologue where the owner of the hotel was attacked by this person in this gas mask and now we're alternating between chapters of our protagonist and this other woman who is being chased through the woods by this person in this gas mask and it's like a mask that apparently connects like via a tube between the mouth and the nose. It sounds like something out of Doctor Who I can't quite picture it but it's like started like high tension. Eileen our protagonist like she's so anxious she's obviously some stuff has happened to her she's very like she's like like this she's like the epitome of this as a person and so that's tense and then the other chapters are a woman like running for her life and you know she's probably about to you know so it's very like full throttle right at the start. So I'm actually really excited to read some more of this tonight I'm hoping to get to page like read about 100 pages tonight I think that's probably doable. I'm really intrigued as to where this is gonna go and how it's gonna get thrilling and the atmosphere and the setting of the hotel is really weird and scary and crazy so I'm gonna go read some more and then I'll let you know what I'm thinking. Good morning. I actually read a little bit further than I said I was going to. I'm on page 147 because I read to like page 120 something and then I listened to a bit of the audiobook. I'm enjoying it I'm really enjoying it very very atmospheric like it's very focused on this isolation in the snow um the pools of the hotel like the the swimming pools and the spa are being used in very interesting and like scary ways because I think water can be a very scary technique to use and I think that's being played up on really well. Thankfully our protagonist like isn't chill with the fact that it is an old sanatorium. I hope not. That is a point of tension within the story right like she's very uncomfortable with that fact um and it keeps coming back to that like how uncomfortable she is and like they've got like artifacts like medical instruments that were used then like hung up around the hotel like they're making like a spectacle of it and it's it's not like something we're happy about which I'm glad to see. I was worried we were gonna be like oh my god it's so cool quirky you know what I mean but it's not that at all. Her brother's girlfriend has gone missing like basically been missing for like a day and they're starting to get worried. Our protagonist is a detective who is kind of on leave at the moment due to a case gone wrong and so she's starting to want to kind of like investigate the story especially because she really doesn't trust her brother because she thinks I think she thinks or suspects that he may have had something to do with the death of their younger brother when they were because her brother her life brother is very manipulative like he twists situations and stuff he says and says and he lies a lot and so she's like sis I don't trust this one bit. That's not true. So she actually thinks that her brother has something to do with his girlfriend going missing. There's a lot more characters in this I don't trust. I don't trust. It's been so long actually since I've read like a really good thriller and I'm like loving it. I'm having so much fun. I just think the atmosphere is done so well. The other storylines with the woman that the other woman that's gone missing that our protagonist doesn't know about is really scary and interesting and I think I just love books that play up on that isolation like I just love it like I think isolation from the rest of society is like the scariest thing because anything could go wrong and you're not in control so that is definitely keeping me on edge so I'm really enjoying it. I don't trust her boyfriend that's there with her. I don't trust her brother. I don't trust the heads of the hotel. I don't trust anyone. It could be anyone. It really could be anyone. I don't trust anyone and I really like how we've got these multiple storylines going on like we've got the missing girlfriend. We've got the missing woman. We've got the brother's death and we've got the missing um hotel owner that happened right at the start. So we've got all these different threads that have already been set up that are gonna become connected in some way I feel like. It's definitely very dark and suspenseful. What I want from this is stuff to start going wrong now and like for it to be she's trapped. It's really scary. She's running from someone. I want it to be that now. Like I want us to get high attention for the rest of the book. I'm gonna carry on reading. I'm gonna listen to a bit more of the audio book actually because I'm really enjoying that. Also the chapters are so short like the chapters are like three pages long and it just like keeps the pace going and keeps that tension really well. So I'm really enjoying it so far. Okay um I just wasn't expecting that. So I'm two thirds of the way in and oh my god when I was filming two things happen that shocked me. Like I was not expecting them. I was so shook. Oh my god I I can't really get over it and it was literally just happened so I really just want to read on. I'm really interested to see where it's gonna go now. Like before that I was thinking this is a really solid four but if this keeps picking up in the way that it is currently this could be a five. Without spoiling anything basically some things have happened that have left uh Elin basically acting as a detective. She's kind of reverted back into that role. They're very much even more isolated at the hotel. There's not a lot of people left there. It's really interesting seeing her like working stuff out and using like her detective brain to figure out what has happened or to try to figure out what has happened. It's just really well layered. There's a lot of clues. There's a lot of things like layering on top of one another. Like you find out a clue and then you find out an answer to a previous clue. Like they're all like kind of like stacking on top of one another. And so I think it's done really really well. Like that keeps the suspense going. It keeps you engaged and there's constantly something new. And then just now like ---- hit kind of hit the fan. Petrified. Petrified. Like ---- kind of hit the fan and I was not expecting it and I'm really really really enjoying it. The boyfriend is so annoying to me. Like Elin has some childhood trauma and he's just like get over it bitch. He's like get over it. It's like there's no future for us if you just can't get over this. I'm like she's had this trauma since she was a kid. What makes you think you in like two years is gonna make her get over it? No sir. Anyway he's really he's pissing me off. These white men are dangerous. But regardless of that I have no idea where this is gonna go. I have some suspicions but none of them really make sense. Um so I don't know where it's gonna go. Like I can't see where this is gonna go. But like I said I wanted that tension to start increasing and as soon as I said that as soon as I said that it did. Like we've been on a steady rise and it's like so tense right now. So tense. So I cannot wait to read this last third and see where it goes. Like this is so good. This has just come out like literally a couple days ago and if you are someone who enjoys thrillers I would really recommend you checking this out and picking it up because it's good. Like it's a really really good thriller. I don't know who I can trust. I really don't know where it's gonna go but I'm so excited. I finished it. I'm gonna give it four stars. Firstly firstly it was still very interesting. Great pacing what have you. But the reveal like the baddie reveal I felt was a bit on the nose. I felt like without spoiling anything it was the whole reason this book had been written to like give a particular message through that baddie and it felt like here's my message. Here's what I wanted to get across. Do you know what I mean? Like from the author. And it just felt a bit on the nose. Like I liked the message. I agreed with the message but it was a bit heavy-handed. Also there was an epilogue right at the end that pissed me up. It is miffing me off somewhat. I was about to say actually a similar like a book that had a similar epilogue but I won't in case like it's similar. I don't think it would spoil it if we had read it but I don't want anyone to have a go at me. But another thriller I read had a very similar epilogue and it's just annoying because it doesn't add anything. It doesn't like it doesn't resolve any questions. It just creates new questions that you're never gonna get the answers to and like creates an interesting dynamic that we're never gonna get to explore. Like makes a character who previously hadn't been interesting interesting. Like I hate it. I hate it. So that really annoyed me. I feel like it's like why are you even here? Like it all it does is make me annoyed. All it does is make me illustrated. What was I trying to say? Definitely not illustrated. Frustrated. She's so stupid. However on the whole I think this is a very solid thriller. Like the atmosphere, the way the weather plays into the atmosphere, all the different clues and how they merge and like mirror each other is very very interesting. I believe this is a debut as well. So this is a brilliant debut thriller in my eyes. If you are someone who loves thrillers I think you should give this a go. I think the actual cover looks something like that. It's just a bit of a pain to hold it out like that. But the actual cover looks something like that. So that concludes my wrapped up episode five or six. I don't even know what episode we're on anymore. But um thank you for watching. I hope you enjoyed it. I'm hopefully gonna keep carrying this on as I still have a fair few books wrapped up. And yeah I hope you enjoyed this vlog. Let me know if you're gonna think of reading Sanatorium. A big thank you again by the way to the publisher for sending me an advanced copy. I really appreciate it. And yeah I will see you very very soon in another video. Bye!