This one kind of reminded me of My Sister, The Serial Killer, without the dark humor. I loved the fast pacing and short chapters of BLOOD WILL TELL. Right away, the story captivated me, but eventually I found my mind wandering.

Engaging and entertaining. A recommended purchase for collections where crime and thrillers are popular.

This was such a disappointing read. I had such high hopes for it. It wanted to be suspenseful and gripping, but comes across so flat. There's an act of having unlikable characters trying to negotiate horrific situations. I could see what the author was trying to do. Unfortunately, it wasn't executed properly. Maybe the next one.

#NETGALLEY. #BLOODEWILLTELL. #HEATHERCHAVEZ

I Love Heather Chavez!

You can always count on a great read that you won’t want to put down.

This story had me guessing a lot but then when I would think I figured it out the author would throw another wrench in the mix to make you see you knew NOTHING about the killer. 🤣😂🤣

Can’t wait to read mireby Ms. Chavez.

This is a fun, fast thriller. It kept me turning the pages into the night. I only dropped it a star because I saw one of the reveals coming for awhile. However, I loved the writing and will be picking up more from this author in the future.

I found Blood Will Tell to be a run of the mill thriller. There wasn't anything that really stood out as unique or different about this one, but it was an enjoyable read while it lasted. I wasn't able to predict the twist, which I appreciated. However, I found that there were too many side plot lines that didn't add much to the story and distracted from the main storyline. I found the characters to be interesting, but for some reason, I didn't feel invested in them or connected to them. They felt more like character studies than characters I connected with on a personal level.

The author of No Bad Deed brings us another thrilling and well-told story, even if I found out the hard way that it’s not for everybody. Protagonist Frankie has always looked out for her little sister, Izzy, whose judgment and life decisions have not always been sound. This protectiveness extended to covering up a car accident five years earlier in which a blackout-drunk Izzy was convinced she had hit someone. A cursory examination of the surrounding area revealed just a dead deer, but should Frankie have believed her sister? What exactly happened at the small gathering attended by Izzy the night of the accident? Now that Izzy is suspected of a new crime, Frankie’s continuing quest to help her sister sends her looking back at the events of that night and talking to Izzy’s friends. In this type of novel, everyone usually has something to hide, but be prepared for the exceptional duplicity featured here. Every character seems to lie All. The. Time. I get that there are secrets to be unearthed, but the entire cast seems incapable of telling the truth. The weird behavior and casual way that some of Izzy’s friends enjoy tormenting others is horrifying. Even some of the innocent characters are totally pathological. By the end I was just hoping that someone, somewhere would turn out to be a normal person.

Thanks to Netgalley and William Morrow for a digital advance review copy.

I really enjoyed this book, I thought that it was a great thriller that kept you guessing until the very last page. The detail in descriptions was amazing, and the relationships in the book and how the progressed throughout was interesting to see. Definitely a reread in the future and I will have to get a physical copy to be able to read it again! Chilling at times, it had me looking over my shoulder while reading to make sure I was still alone!

This is a good premise and story, but not sure if this is just me or maybe this is how the author wants to tell the story, but it seems the story stops while the main character explains something rather than it just happens in the story. For me, this disrupts the flow of if for me. Fixing this would have me enjoy it a lot more. I don’t remember this in the first book which I did really like.

I wouldn’t classify this as a thriller, it’s very character driven and informative before you get to the actual thrilling part. Most of the time books like that bore me but Chavez has a way with her writing to keep you invested. There was one twist at the end I didn’t guess until the literal reveal. Frankie was an awesome MC to go on this journey with.

Blood Will Tell is a twisty, fast-paced thriller about two sisters and the lengths one will go to protect the other. How far would you go to keep your sister out of prison? The story follows a pair of sisters as they try to figure out what happened one awful night five years before. Izzy was in a car accident after partying with six friends and called Frankie for help. One of the six went missing. Izzy doesn't remember what happened. An amber alert puts Frankie's truck as one present at an abduction. Only Izzy had access to Frankie's truck. How far will Frankie go to protect her sister? The story is intriguing from start to finish with plenty of twists throughout. Highly recommended! Be sure to check out Blood Will Tell today.

Schoolteacher/single mother Frankie Barrera protected her younger sister Izzy when a young woman died 5 years before - can she and should she do so again?

That's the basic plotline of Heather Chavez's "Blood Will Tell". It's a well crafted mystery, whose twists and turns of plot continue until the very end. Don't miss it!

After reading and loving Heather Chavez's debut No Bad Deed, I was pretty excited to read Blood Will Tell, and thankfully it lived up to my high expectations! Even though there is a friendship element to the story, at its core this is really about being a sister, and I enjoyed the exploration of sibling bonds through Frankie and Izzy's relationship. What length will we go for a sibling? This novel explores that and more, and at times it got pretty dark which was fine by me! I did get a little confused with the plot of the 6 friends and what exactly happened with them, but it did proceed to surprise me, and I don't think it's anything a reread couldn't fix. Even though this would probably never happen IRL, I was really into Frankie’s decision to start doing her own sleuthing which ends up in her going to talk to the mother of the girl who was kidnapped. This is an extremely uncomfortable part of the book, and one part of me was telling Frankie she was an idiot, but at the same time, I liked where it ended up taking the story.

There are technically 2 mysteries happening here, one in the past (Izzy’s friend) and then the kidnapping in current day. Eventually, we do get a resolution for both, and one was definitely more surprising than the other. I highly recommend doing Blood Will Tell on audio which is fully in thanks to the narrators Andi Arndt & Sophie Amoss. They did a great job being the voices of Frankie and Izzy and even though this isn’t a slow-paced novel, Arndt and Amoss helped to make it feel like the book was moving faster than it was. I did enjoy the present time storyline better than the past, and I know some readers will find the entire plot pretty far-fetched. I don’t mind this in my fiction reads, and Blood Will Tell made for a pretty awesome escape read. So, who should read this? If you can handle over-the-top plots and enjoy smart female leads (yessss Frankie!) without an ambiguous ending – this is for you!

Thank you to the publishers for my advanced listening and reader copies of this book. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

3.5 rounded up

Frankie Barrera has always been protective of her little sister Izzy. She goes to great lengths to protect her and bail her out of difficult situations, including 5 years ago after an accident Izzy doesn't remember after too much imbibing in a night of partying. When Frankie is confronted by police after her truck is reportedly involved in a kidnapping, Frankie starts looking into the case to see how she can once again protect her sister.

I really enjoyed Chavez's debut novel, but I feel like she may have been bitten by the sophomore slump with this novel. The book is still good, but not as enjoyable as her debut. The pacing felt like it was dragging for quite a bit of the book. Once things picked up though, it really took off. I also felt like Frankie made choices that no rational person would make. The ending was a total surprise, but I felt like there were no clues at all that that character was the guilty party. It just came out of nowhere in my opinion. I'm still looking forward to her next book though.

My thanks to William Morrow, Custom House. Heather Chavez, and NetGalley for gifting me a digital copy of this book. My opinions are my own.

BOOK REVIEW: Blood Will Tell by Heather Chavez
2022 Publication Date: April 26

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

T.I.M.E. Best Books By Genre | Thriller
T.I.M.E. Most Anticipated Books Of 2022

CONNECT WITH A BOOK | T.I.M.E. SIMPLE LIVING TIP
Under pressure? Never underestimate the power of a good "to-do list"...

T.I.M.E. BOOK REVIEW: Heather Chavez became one of my favorite new thriller authors with her debut novel, No Bad Deed, which always makes my list of recommended books for anyone looking for a page-turning read... (I still can't believe that was her first book... Wow! What a talent...) With her second book, Blood Will Tell, we are experiencing the additional depths this author can explore within a story focused on two sisters who are facing ongoing mutual questions of "what will I do to protect her"... Place this author on your "auto-buy" list. Always chomping at the bit for my next Chavez read!... ✨😎✨

Pages: 400
Genre: Thriller
Sub-Genre: Domestic Noir
Time Period: Present Day
Location: Northern Sonoma County, California

IF YOU LIKE THIS BOOK THEN TRY…
Book: No Bad Deed by Heather Chavez
Movie: A Simple Favor

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All my book reviews can be seen at This Is My Everybody | Simple Living | Denise Wilbanks at thisismyeverybody.com/blog/what-book-should-i-read

♡ Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

First time reading from this author and I definitely enjoyed it.
At first, it seemed a little predictable but it caught me off guard and I love that. Poor Izzy is dealing with so much, and she has such a big heart. Frankie is very protective of her little sister, and what she pulled out of Izzy was insane! Some of it wasn't super shocking, but it kept me on edge. I will definitely read more from this author.

This book was so good! I want to see more from this author in the future!! I couldn't put this book down. What a page turner!!!

This is a nail biter for sure, but I just couldn't connect with the characters. I found the lead to be so unbelievable as a mother. I just couldn't picture the scenarios she put herself in as something a mother would do. She ditched her kid for most of the book, and that didn't really sit right with me. It didn't feel authentic, as she is portrayed as a loving mother. I was pleasantly surprised by the conclusion, if not a bit confused by how it got there. Overall, a fast paced thriller that made for a quick read but one I couldn't really connect with.

A thriller about two sisters with secrets, suspense and family drama can never disappoint me. Especially if the story has one sister covering up the crime to protect the other!! BLOOD WILL TELL is my first read from Chavez, this dramatic-thriller hooked me once I got past first few chapters. I did feel that the book could
have been a little shorter, but I read a couple reviews applaud the final twist, so I kept reading. BWT is an interesting story, if you need a thriller to keep you occupied for some time, pick this one.

Thank you William Morrow via Netgalley for the eARC.

Unfortunately I just couldn't love this one as much as I wanted to. I was kept semi-interested with the back stories of the characters and how, if it all, it relates to the kidnapping of a character, but overall I just felt that the story was going around in circles and it was hard to stay focused. I also felt that the main character was very 1 dimensional and it made it hard to connect in any way