I received an arc of this book via NetGalley.

This book gave me chills, and it’s one of only a couple to do that in recent memory, so a big round of applause is in order for Rachel Howzell Hall just for that! I also think that the 1st person narration worked super well here and made the book an even more immersive experience. The twists were great as well, even if I saw a couple of them coming (which I tend to do more often these days since I’ve been reading so much crime fiction). Superb book, and I’m off to start on Howzell Hall’s backlist!

Well that was interesting. I love the concept of the scrapbook. This is techy but not too much for a non tech person.
Overall. I really enjoyed this book.

Wow. There was a LOT going on in this new adult mystery/thriller. It was mostly believable,, often poignant, and often witty. I got a bit lost and wasn't entirely sure what the takeaway was, but I enjoyed the adventurous format and the voice. I would love to read another of hers and compare, as she suggests in the acknowledgements section that this was a different style than her usual. Thanks to NetGalley for providing the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Mickie Lambert works for Memory Bank, a company that creates digital projects that will tell stories and project holographic images of the client's favorite things. After her latest client, owner of a cluttered curio shop, commits suicide, she plans to finish the job. Maybe the dead woman's family will want the memories associated with the twelve unrelated objects she'd chosen.

It took me a while to get into this one, but once I got past the high tech gimmick involved in the memory boxes and paid more attention to the objects and their stories, I started to enjoy it more. Although I had a hunch what some things might be, and I was right, I never came close to figuring it all out. The ultimate purpose behind the box Mickie is working on is extremely creepy and unsettling.

Michaela Mickie Lambert is a digital archaeologist. She makes digital memory ‘scrapbooks’ for clients to record the images and provenance of cherished items for clients to ensure they are remembered. When her latest client, Nadia Dunham, owner of a curio shop and in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, commits suicide just as the project is startng, Mickie decides to continue with it since it is already paid for. As she researches each item Nadia has left for her, she discovers they were all from women Nadia had helped in the past but, as Mickie, dives deeper into their stories, she discovers they are all either missing or dead. And now Mickie is receiving threatening messages under her door..

I really enjoyed the premise of These Toxic Things by Rachel Howzell Hall and the first chapter offered the promise of a fast-paced and engrossing story. Unfortunately, it didn’t fuly live up to this promise. Instead, it often got bogged down in other sub-plots that added little to the main story and too often served only to slow it down. I also didn’t much care for Mickie who I found very hard to relate to.

Still, I did finish it and the ending certainly went a long way to mitigate these criticisms so, overall, I would recommend it for fans of thrillers looking for something a little different and aren’t concerned about the pace.

3.5

<i>Thanks to Netgalley & Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review</i>

5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I would definitely be recommending this book to readers on my Instagram bookstagram account.

This story was very original and odd (but in a good way!). It was a slow burn in a great way. The ending was amazing and made me love this story that much more!

I ended up getting a copy of this from Amazon Prime reading, and since I haven’t been able to read and review it I didn’t ever download it.

I finished These Toxic Things a few days ago and really enjoyed it! I found it to be fast paced and kept my attention. There were a lot of little twists and hints throughout and it kept me suspecting other people. I really liked the illustrations of each trinket with their descriptions. I wish it was explained more clearly if those short chapters with the trinkets were the stories Mickie wrote or if those were the notes Nadia left for her. The whole concept was really interesting as a way of preserving memories for people themselves or relatives after they pass. This book published Sept 1, 2021.

Synopsis: Mickie Lambert creates “digital scrapbooks” for clients, ensuring that precious souvenirs aren’t forgotten or lost. When her latest client, Nadia Denham, a curio shop owner, dies from an apparent suicide, Mickie honors the old woman’s last wish and begins curating her peculiar objets d’art. A music box, a hair clip, a key chain―twelve mementos in all that must have meant so much to Nadia, who collected them on her flea market scavenges across the country.
But these tokens mean a lot to someone else, too. Mickie has been receiving threatening messages to leave Nadia’s past alone.
It’s becoming a mystery Mickie is driven to solve. Who once owned these odd treasures? How did Nadia really come to possess them? Discovering the truth means crossing paths with a long-dormant serial killer and navigating the secrets of a sinister past. One that might, Mickie fears, be inescapably entwined with her own.

Thank you to the author, @netgalley and Thomas&Mercer @amazonpublishing for the e-copy in exchange for my honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Rachel Howzell Hall quickly became a must-read author for me when I discovered her excellent Eloise Norton detective novels. This latest standalone novel shows off her creativity and strong storytelling skills. Mickie Lambert is assigned to make a digital scrapbook—a sort of electronic memento collection--for Nadia Denham, an older lady. When the client suddenly dies, Mickie continues to fulfill her contract and work on the prepaid scrapbook project. This premise lends itself to a clever chapter organization, in which we are presented with an object of significance as Mickie catalogues it and learns its importance to Nadia. Along the way, Mickie learns that someone wants her to stop investigating these objects, and she also uncovers secrets in her own family. Mickie is not the most appealing protagonist—frankly, she's a little bratty—making it hard to be invested in her various (and too-predictable) personal struggles. Nevertheless, the central mystery about Nadia is compelling, and it reminded me how good the author is at creating a sense of place and telling a twisty story. After all the clever twists, the ending is satisfying. I look forward to the next book by this author.

Thanks to Thomas & Mercer and Netgalley for a digital advance review copy.

was definitely a slow burn for me but the author writes in such a way that it really works, she keeps me engaged and intrigued to read the story. The first chapter starts off with a bang that leaves me wanting more. Although I think it's better if you go into this blind I did think that the plot was super unique I would have never thought to write a novel about digital scrapbooks before. If are a lover of dark suspenseful, unique thriller I definitely recommend

I really wanted to like this book, however there was just too much going on that I could not keep track of which storyline we were on. I really did not like the main character. She was poorly written as some sort of ghetto girl that is vapid and overly sexualized, but it is obvious from her career choice that she has to have some intelligence. I, also, really hate the trope about someone being adopted and this being kept from them and then something horrible happens. I think this lacks any sort of originality.. I thought the digital archivist was such a unique job and would have really liked to see this mesh into the storyline instead of being a sideline to a bunch of other junk. Where is the editor when you need one? Thanks for the ARC< NetGalley.

I have an addicted, “stayed up till 4:30 in the morning reading” kind of creepy admiration for this book. That’s definitely a compliment. I was lucky to review this creative, twisty and very modern thriller for NPR Books:
4.5 stars https://www.npr.org/2021/09/02/1031881611/these-toxic-things-rachel-howzell-hall

“What something is worth isn’t always tied to money.”These Toxic Thing by Rachel Howzell Hall

2.75 stars. Maybe just 2.5 really. 3 if I’m feeling generous (but I’m not feeling it so there). A few bits unexpected, most were a yes-I-guessed-right moment.

Mickie is a memory conservist, digital archivist, helping clients keep their most cherished memories in a digital, almost 3D experience her latest client, an interesting old woman who owns a curio shop, has apparently committed suicide. So Mickie decides to continue the project, it’s paid for after all. She’s doing all this while there’s a serial killer on the loose plus her very own stalker.

So many things going on in this book, it got in the way of the true mystery of it. There’s the mystery of Nadia (the client’s) things, there’s the contractor who was bothering Nadia and other store owners, there’s the strange notes left at Mickie’s place, threatening text messages on her phone , her boyfriend broke up with her, her mother’s secrets and secret drawer and the surprise memory box project for her… it made me feel detached from this book and from Mickie herself. I just plodded through.

Mickie herself was an entitled person, and really careless with the nice things she borrows/gets from her parents. Didn’t quite like her to be honest.

And at the end, how she got badly injured? It was anticlimactic and not needed in the story.

Hmm, what kept it interesting was in the end, a serial killer is still human and is vulnerable to the same diseases as regular people are. That’s all I can say without giving up the goods. Hahaha. That’s the half star in this review.

I see a lot of good reviews for this book but this book just isn’t for me.

Thank you Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the arc of this book.

Mickie Lambert is a “digital archaeologist” and she creates digital scrapbooks for her clients. The memories she helps to preserve are based on items that belong to the client and have special meaning. It’s an interesting and sometimes challenging job. When her latest client dies, apparently by suicide, Mickie continues to honor her wishes and catalogue her memories, all the while wondering about the unique collection of objects that were acquired from various parts of the country. It’s only when she receives threatening notes to leave the project alone does Mickie realizes that her project has become a mystery that she wants to solve.

These Toxic Things is a very compelling book and difficult to put down. The descriptions of the various, innocuous items that had been set aside for the digital scrapbook slowly reveal the story of the owner and how her life had evolved. The suspense is well-paced, the tension increases, and as Mickie delves into the stories of the objects, it becomes more terrifying. More than once I thought I had it all figured out, only to discover that I was heading down the wrong path. It is a well-written and suspenseful novel that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

Thanks to the publishers for sharing this one. I'm kind of flummoxed by other reviews I've seen where people seemed to be really mad about the author's capitalisation of 'Black'. I assume that was done for political reasons, but it doesn't seem to detract from the story at all. I thought the premise was fascinating and it's what drew me in. I wasn't too impressed with the ending though. My full review appears on Weekend Notes.

This was another thrilling offering by a very talented author. I've read some of Rachel's books in the past, so I knew what to expect, and once again I wasn't disappointed! I enjoyed the book and can't wait for the next one. Recommended.

Unique and Thrilling......................
These Toxic Things by Rachel Howzell Hall is an amazing and unputdownable thriller. Each and every page has something new to offer. The climax will definitely blow your mind. The book turned out to be real page turner with a superb plot. Also, each and every character has a different story. The book is a wonderful thriller recipe for 2021. I am glad that I have read the book. You would not be disappointed by adding it to your TBR. I would definitely give the book 5 stars. Also, I am thankful to Netgalley for providing me an opportunity to read the book.

This book had some really good parts to it but there was just too much stuff. Too many things going on and perhaps too much ambition for what the book wanted to be: chick-lit, romance, family drama, suspense? It was too much. The plots included suicide, homicide, a stalker, job stress, relationship issues, a serial killer, and of course the big bad developer trying to push out small businesses. And Mickie, the main character, is pretty unlikeable, at least at the beginning. Her character seems to mellow out as the suspense (or circus of events) ramps up. Finally, I struggled with believing many of the events that take place during the course of the story. To not give away spoilers: police detectives will not send witnesses/suspects texts with confidential information about a case, and if Mickie's company is only getting paid $5,000 for a project that takes 6 weeks to produce (the Memory Box), they are going to be out of business very quickly. Oh and apparently no one in SoCal has heard about phone number spoofing. So, I wish someone had been more diligent with a red pen and had paired down this book to bit fewer plots and had thought through some of the situations. This book had promise. I love the main concept but there was so many distracting extras thrown in that the good stuff gets lost in the clutter.

It was ok. The ending saved it for me. The beginning did draw me in but eventually Michaela, the main character started to wear on me and things seemed redundant. I liked the premise but something was missing that I can't quite put my finger on.