This is a charmingly quirky tale of travelling sideshow people and their efforts to entertain the general populace and, most importantly, get coin. With illustrations of handbills that promise the most exotic of treats we get to meet the main players in the novel:
The One Arm'd Boy - Alex suffered a near fatal accident in early childhood and now has only one arm. Raised by the Graingers he has been taught to juggle and perform acrobatic feats for the pleasure of the public.
The Dwaff - Abel is short of stature and light of finger regularly boosting the sideshows earning by picking pockets and rigging games.
The No-Legg'd Brute - Joe has no legs, whether by accident or accident of birth we know not. Despite his appearence and his gruff voice he is a kind and gentle man who performs feats of strength for his slop.
George - An Amazonian Green Parrot whose mimicry knows no bounds and who frequently fails to perform when called upon.
The Girl-Exotic - Sweet Mim, sold to the Grainger's as a baby when her mother couldn't hide her dalliance with, what we assume, was a servant. Coffee coloured skin and a smattering of learning she is the lowest rung on the sideshow ladder. Even the mathematical pig and the dancing geese get better slop than her.
When the show meets up with Dr Sebastian Fox things look to be taking a turn for the better as he introduces them to the delights of Electrickery and their coffers suddenly swell.
You do get drawn in to this peculiar world and the smattering of language from the 18th Century just makes it seem all the more immersive. We follow the fortunes of Mim and Alex as they try to cope with the change in fortunes brought about by the Electrickery and as they each rise and fall in favour time and again. Theirs is a warm friendship that struggles to cope with their adulthood and relative importance to the Graingers and Dr Fox.
Perhaps the best character though is George. He injects the humour in to the book and smoothly interrupts the most sincere soul searching with his outbursts. Albeit in language not suitable for a lady.
This book was so much better than I thought it was going to be with rich characters and a real sense of time and place. There is love, there is peril, there is wealth and there is pecuniary. Most of all there is humanity.
Monday, 4 June 2018
First To Die by Alex Caan
This is more of a 2.5 Stars read but I was so disappointed that I have marked it down as a 2 Star in my notebook of doom (as the other half calls it).
The premise for the story itself is very good - a high ranking civil servant is found dead after a public demonstration in central London and the circumstances are very peculiar indeed. He has clearly been infected with something but will this pose a threat to the general public and can they even find out what caused his brain to melt and his body to erupt in pustules and blisters. The science is a little flimsy but relatively sound and I liked that explanations of Category A Viruses and Neurotoxins was slipped in to the text in a non-patronising way (very often the science bit can be a little insulting).
As more people turn up missing and dead the race is on to find out just what this infection is and why so many disparate people have died in various violent ways. The links between them are tenuous and the detective work to prove the links is dealt with well and does keep you interested; especially as you feel as baffled as the police.
Then it all starts to go very wrong, very fast. It feels as though inspiration left the author and with the deadline looming he had to get some sort of resolution out of this whilst meeting his word count. Certainly not the first author that has given me this impression and I am sure won't be the last.
The real problem lies with the characters in the story and their backstories which heavily populate the book and serve only to slow the action down and distract from the case in hand. The biggest nuisance for this is Kate Riley as we are constantly reminded that her and her mother had been in Witness Protection in the States after they had testified against her father. Now they have a "Watcher" determined to be their undoing - this is not resolved in the book - who pops up in the narrative with startling regularity just when things are getting interesting.
The main player is DS Zain Harris who has a murky past and was "turned" by GCHQ and did some time working for SO15. This we are reminded off ad infinitum and we also get to go on tangents to his insomnia and illegal drug habit. He also takes time to lecture us on internet safety and protecting our identity.
In summary I found this to be a frustrating tale with too many side stories trying to be woven in, leaving the whole ultimately confused and frustrating to read.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
The premise for the story itself is very good - a high ranking civil servant is found dead after a public demonstration in central London and the circumstances are very peculiar indeed. He has clearly been infected with something but will this pose a threat to the general public and can they even find out what caused his brain to melt and his body to erupt in pustules and blisters. The science is a little flimsy but relatively sound and I liked that explanations of Category A Viruses and Neurotoxins was slipped in to the text in a non-patronising way (very often the science bit can be a little insulting).
As more people turn up missing and dead the race is on to find out just what this infection is and why so many disparate people have died in various violent ways. The links between them are tenuous and the detective work to prove the links is dealt with well and does keep you interested; especially as you feel as baffled as the police.
Then it all starts to go very wrong, very fast. It feels as though inspiration left the author and with the deadline looming he had to get some sort of resolution out of this whilst meeting his word count. Certainly not the first author that has given me this impression and I am sure won't be the last.
The real problem lies with the characters in the story and their backstories which heavily populate the book and serve only to slow the action down and distract from the case in hand. The biggest nuisance for this is Kate Riley as we are constantly reminded that her and her mother had been in Witness Protection in the States after they had testified against her father. Now they have a "Watcher" determined to be their undoing - this is not resolved in the book - who pops up in the narrative with startling regularity just when things are getting interesting.
The main player is DS Zain Harris who has a murky past and was "turned" by GCHQ and did some time working for SO15. This we are reminded off ad infinitum and we also get to go on tangents to his insomnia and illegal drug habit. He also takes time to lecture us on internet safety and protecting our identity.
In summary I found this to be a frustrating tale with too many side stories trying to be woven in, leaving the whole ultimately confused and frustrating to read.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
The Wedding Season by Samantha Chase
Single and relatively happy about it Speech Pathologist (who knew that was a job!) Tricia is dreading the summer. Three wedding invitations already on the mantle and another three have just arrived, just what she needed. Still, her best friend Sean will be back by then and they have made a pact to attend as a couple so that they can both avoid the matchmaking and pitying looks from their loved up friends. It all goes awry when Sean suffers an accident just days before returning home to the States. Luckily for Tricia his older brother, Ryan, steps in to the breach and becomes her plus one - will this lead to true love for both of them?
It doesn't sound too bad when you distill it down like that. Unfortunately the execution of both the plot and the characters left me feeling distinctly underwhelmed. I was so glad this was a short tale as I don't think I could have got much further than he 200 pages it purports to be on my eReader. There is no real story arc and it all becomes a bit this happens and then they kiss and then this happens and they become far more intimate, then we have a misunderstanding and they break up but awww they love each other so it doesn't stick. The characters are pretty flimsy so you don't really care about whether or not Tricia will get it together with Ryan, there isn't really any suspense as to whether it is Sean that she really loves.
Quick and easy read that passes the time on a commute or when reading time is limited and you have one eye on the clock the whole time. Other than that I really wouldn't bother.
It doesn't sound too bad when you distill it down like that. Unfortunately the execution of both the plot and the characters left me feeling distinctly underwhelmed. I was so glad this was a short tale as I don't think I could have got much further than he 200 pages it purports to be on my eReader. There is no real story arc and it all becomes a bit this happens and then they kiss and then this happens and they become far more intimate, then we have a misunderstanding and they break up but awww they love each other so it doesn't stick. The characters are pretty flimsy so you don't really care about whether or not Tricia will get it together with Ryan, there isn't really any suspense as to whether it is Sean that she really loves.
Quick and easy read that passes the time on a commute or when reading time is limited and you have one eye on the clock the whole time. Other than that I really wouldn't bother.
Appleby Farm by Cathy Bramley
This is a sequel to the Ivy Lane book and, fortunately, it does work as a standalone read as I haven't read the Ivy Lane book (yet). This time we are following the fortunes of Freya and her family, the Moorcrofts. Although it does contain spoilers for the first book there is enough in the first couple of chapters to immerse yourself in her life and figure out who is who.
Everything here centres around Freya's attempts to come to terms with her abandonment by her mother and father and to help her aunt and uncle, who more or less raised her, protect the family farm for future generations. She is also trying to balance her relationship with Charlie after moving back to The Lake District.
The descriptions of life on the farm are idyllic and definitely hark back to a different era. You do want to move in to Appleby Farm along with Freya and her Aunt Sue and Uncle Arthur but once we stray in to the saving the farm territory things become a little less enthralling. Despite setbacks a plenty for the Moorcrofts Freya's venture is an immediate success and I do find this hard to believe; it isn't exactly a novel idea and being so far from the beaten track I doubt that it would survive much less be the powerhouse it becomes days after opening. I also found it odd that a rural pub in the modern world doesn't serve a good cup of tea or coffee but there you go.
Slightly too much escapism for me in this one. I do like a decent dose of reality with my chick lit and this book delivers that in a patchy manner and I can see how this would simply deliver a warm "girl done good" hug for a lot of readers but I found myself becoming infuriated with Freya and the relative ease with which she achieves her goals. I did enjoy the rekindling of her childhood friendship with Harry and her new friendship with the delightfully batty Lizzie.
The plot is light and frothy and there are no surprises here at all - everything is flagged up for the reader well in advance so you only need to have a few braincells engaged to follow along. The characters are warm and feel drawn from life and this is what keeps you engaged and reading on. Somehow though I never got drawn in to their lives as I would expect to; something is missing to bring the whole together and I'm not sure what it is.
Everything here centres around Freya's attempts to come to terms with her abandonment by her mother and father and to help her aunt and uncle, who more or less raised her, protect the family farm for future generations. She is also trying to balance her relationship with Charlie after moving back to The Lake District.
The descriptions of life on the farm are idyllic and definitely hark back to a different era. You do want to move in to Appleby Farm along with Freya and her Aunt Sue and Uncle Arthur but once we stray in to the saving the farm territory things become a little less enthralling. Despite setbacks a plenty for the Moorcrofts Freya's venture is an immediate success and I do find this hard to believe; it isn't exactly a novel idea and being so far from the beaten track I doubt that it would survive much less be the powerhouse it becomes days after opening. I also found it odd that a rural pub in the modern world doesn't serve a good cup of tea or coffee but there you go.
Slightly too much escapism for me in this one. I do like a decent dose of reality with my chick lit and this book delivers that in a patchy manner and I can see how this would simply deliver a warm "girl done good" hug for a lot of readers but I found myself becoming infuriated with Freya and the relative ease with which she achieves her goals. I did enjoy the rekindling of her childhood friendship with Harry and her new friendship with the delightfully batty Lizzie.
The plot is light and frothy and there are no surprises here at all - everything is flagged up for the reader well in advance so you only need to have a few braincells engaged to follow along. The characters are warm and feel drawn from life and this is what keeps you engaged and reading on. Somehow though I never got drawn in to their lives as I would expect to; something is missing to bring the whole together and I'm not sure what it is.
Saturday, 2 June 2018
The Ghost And The Graveyard by Genevieve Jack
This is my second reading of the book and I am pretty sure that my opinion of it has not really changed over the intervening 3 or so years. It is a frustrating book in so many ways but one that somehow makes me keep reading. So, why re-read? The simple answer is I got the 3rd and 4th books in the series and it is so long since I read the first 2 I thought I'd better start from scratch again.
The most enjoyable bits of the story are definitely the supernatural elements. Grateful's horror at finding ghosts inhabit her new home is actually quite funny in the way it is handled and her grudging acceptance of them turning to friendship is quite charming. Sadly this is spoilt by an "indecent encounter" with one of them.
We then have the Buffy-esque Hellmouth in the local cemetery which is home to all sorts of supernatural critter; basically if you can think of one then it lives in there and is trying to break through in to the Human world. Grateful's first experience of the nighttime cemetery is suitable bloody and panic fuelled, sadly her first daytime experience was spoilt by an "indecent encounter" with the caretaker.
The ghosts in her attic and the caretaker of the cemetery are convinced Grateful is the reincarnation of the Monks Hill Witch and that she needs to call upon her power to keep the world, well their small American portion of it, free from all things the go bump in the night. This is quite an interesting tangent to go down and the discovery of a large spellbook - spelltome would be more accurate from the descriptions - and a bone sword seem to support this. The only problem is Grateful needs to decide now if she wants the power as her closest friend is at risk from the Hellmouth occupants. The tension builds up quite nicely and then is spoilt by an "indecent encounter" being necessary in the ritual to take back her power.
Are we getting the hint that there are a lot of "indecent encounters" in this book?
There are a lot of them and some do seem to develop naturally from the situation that Genevieve finds herself in, these I can forgive. Others seem to come at moments where the author has painted herself into a plot device corner and her only way out of it is to distract the characters and the readers with some carnality. I call this the Laurell K Hamilton school of writing.
The actual supernatural beings and plot are quite good but seem to take forever to unfurl as we keep going doing down side routes that appear to have little to do with the tale. I am certain that as this is the first book of a series that they are there for reasons yet to be revealed.
Generally the book is a bit hit and miss and very patchy. However, there is enough going for it that I am interested in finding out what happens next - as evidenced by the fact I have purchased the first 4 books in the series - hope I don't regret that!
The most enjoyable bits of the story are definitely the supernatural elements. Grateful's horror at finding ghosts inhabit her new home is actually quite funny in the way it is handled and her grudging acceptance of them turning to friendship is quite charming. Sadly this is spoilt by an "indecent encounter" with one of them.
We then have the Buffy-esque Hellmouth in the local cemetery which is home to all sorts of supernatural critter; basically if you can think of one then it lives in there and is trying to break through in to the Human world. Grateful's first experience of the nighttime cemetery is suitable bloody and panic fuelled, sadly her first daytime experience was spoilt by an "indecent encounter" with the caretaker.
The ghosts in her attic and the caretaker of the cemetery are convinced Grateful is the reincarnation of the Monks Hill Witch and that she needs to call upon her power to keep the world, well their small American portion of it, free from all things the go bump in the night. This is quite an interesting tangent to go down and the discovery of a large spellbook - spelltome would be more accurate from the descriptions - and a bone sword seem to support this. The only problem is Grateful needs to decide now if she wants the power as her closest friend is at risk from the Hellmouth occupants. The tension builds up quite nicely and then is spoilt by an "indecent encounter" being necessary in the ritual to take back her power.
Are we getting the hint that there are a lot of "indecent encounters" in this book?
There are a lot of them and some do seem to develop naturally from the situation that Genevieve finds herself in, these I can forgive. Others seem to come at moments where the author has painted herself into a plot device corner and her only way out of it is to distract the characters and the readers with some carnality. I call this the Laurell K Hamilton school of writing.
The actual supernatural beings and plot are quite good but seem to take forever to unfurl as we keep going doing down side routes that appear to have little to do with the tale. I am certain that as this is the first book of a series that they are there for reasons yet to be revealed.
Generally the book is a bit hit and miss and very patchy. However, there is enough going for it that I am interested in finding out what happens next - as evidenced by the fact I have purchased the first 4 books in the series - hope I don't regret that!
A Summer At Sea by Katie Fforde
There is something comforting about picking up a Katie Fforde book; you know exactly what you are going to get and A Summer At Sea doesn't disappoint.
Strong, independent female lead - CHECK. Emily is a midwife who advocates for home birth and making the whole process feel as natural and calm as possible. When she butts heads with the local GP and a prominent local over a birth she decides she needs to take some time off and reassess her priorities.
Support network of female friends - Emily has few friends but the ones she does have are strong, trustworthy do anything for you types. She has Sally at home, a colleague and staunch friend. Then there is the childhood friend Rebecca who comes to her rescue by offering her a job as cook aboard their Puffer for the season.
Interesting side characters - Bille the galley slave who is a bit of an adversary for Emily. Maisie the elderly lady who shares Emily's passion for knitting. Lizzie the local health visitor cum midwife.
Adorable but strangely normal children. Rebecca's two boys are everything that a boy should be and rarely are in novels (maybe they are a bit Swallows and Amazons-ish but I like that in a fictional child). Katie, Alasdair's daughter is mature beyond her years but still retains the innocence of youth and the delight in the little things.
Gorgeous surroundings - The North of Scotland never seemed so beautiful. From the views off the deck of the Puffer to the little island retreat, it just gets better and better - even if the weather doesn't always co-operate.
Romance - Off course there is romance but this is a more grown up version. No head over heels but a gentle meeting of the heart that flounders (as it must in all good love stories).
In short there are no surprises here for anyone who is a fan of the genre or of the author in particular. What there is, is a gentle plot that trickles along like a burn allowing people to find their space within the pages and for us, the reader, to absorb the simple wonder of life through them. With charming locations and realistic characters you feel just as cosy as the lounge on the Puffer sounds. There are no surprises along the way and everything unfurls exactly as you would predict but it is still an awful lot of fun getting there. This makes it a gentle, life-affirming, read perfect for curling up with a mug of hot chocolate and your snack of choice.
Strong, independent female lead - CHECK. Emily is a midwife who advocates for home birth and making the whole process feel as natural and calm as possible. When she butts heads with the local GP and a prominent local over a birth she decides she needs to take some time off and reassess her priorities.
Support network of female friends - Emily has few friends but the ones she does have are strong, trustworthy do anything for you types. She has Sally at home, a colleague and staunch friend. Then there is the childhood friend Rebecca who comes to her rescue by offering her a job as cook aboard their Puffer for the season.
Interesting side characters - Bille the galley slave who is a bit of an adversary for Emily. Maisie the elderly lady who shares Emily's passion for knitting. Lizzie the local health visitor cum midwife.
Adorable but strangely normal children. Rebecca's two boys are everything that a boy should be and rarely are in novels (maybe they are a bit Swallows and Amazons-ish but I like that in a fictional child). Katie, Alasdair's daughter is mature beyond her years but still retains the innocence of youth and the delight in the little things.
Gorgeous surroundings - The North of Scotland never seemed so beautiful. From the views off the deck of the Puffer to the little island retreat, it just gets better and better - even if the weather doesn't always co-operate.
Romance - Off course there is romance but this is a more grown up version. No head over heels but a gentle meeting of the heart that flounders (as it must in all good love stories).
In short there are no surprises here for anyone who is a fan of the genre or of the author in particular. What there is, is a gentle plot that trickles along like a burn allowing people to find their space within the pages and for us, the reader, to absorb the simple wonder of life through them. With charming locations and realistic characters you feel just as cosy as the lounge on the Puffer sounds. There are no surprises along the way and everything unfurls exactly as you would predict but it is still an awful lot of fun getting there. This makes it a gentle, life-affirming, read perfect for curling up with a mug of hot chocolate and your snack of choice.
Friday, 1 June 2018
Wilde Like Me by Louise Pentland
I think I am one of the few people who didn't find Robin Wilde "delightful". Yes, I get it being a single mum is hard, trying to carve your way in life is hard, loneliness is hard. The universal truth is life is hard. Admittedly, it is unusual for a book to use this as a jumping off point and to describe those feelings and I did think the term "The Emptiness" was a wonderful description - so much better then "the black dog".
However, I could not warm to the main character at all. I know how debilitating depression and low self-esteem are and I still found her to be whiny and completely self-absorbed. Everything was about how she was feeling and it didn't matter that her best friend was eaten up by her inability to conceive or that her Auntie Kath was clearly unwell. Robin just worried about Robin and then a little bit about her daughter and then it was back to worrying about Robin again.
The book itself is fairly well written and I particularly loved the PSMs. The school gate one-upmanship was hilarious and accurate no matter whether Public or Private. The tale does jog along quite nicely even if I did have to grit my teeth to get through quite a lot of it and the cautionary tale of letting your child use you phone to see a pink snake did make me snicker.
The plot is fairly light so you can pick up and put down again after a chapter or two and I never felt any real incentive to keep reading. Apart from the character of Robin we never really get to know anyone else within the book which is a shame as her two new friends, Finola and the other one whose name escapes me, seem to have great potential as fictional people. Auntie Kath deserves a book all about herself as well. The romance angle was a bit of a non-starter too as Robin's decisions in that department were largely deplorable, although it did make me realise I am not cut out for dating anymore if that's what its really like.
Overall it passes the time and will raise a few giggles but I just couldn't connect with the main character and if you don't then it kind of ruins the whole book as there isn't too much else to grab hold of. I did give it 3 Stars as the writing flow is good and there are some genuinely funny moments in there. Really it is a solid 2.5 Stars but I am feeling a little generous today.
However, I could not warm to the main character at all. I know how debilitating depression and low self-esteem are and I still found her to be whiny and completely self-absorbed. Everything was about how she was feeling and it didn't matter that her best friend was eaten up by her inability to conceive or that her Auntie Kath was clearly unwell. Robin just worried about Robin and then a little bit about her daughter and then it was back to worrying about Robin again.
The book itself is fairly well written and I particularly loved the PSMs. The school gate one-upmanship was hilarious and accurate no matter whether Public or Private. The tale does jog along quite nicely even if I did have to grit my teeth to get through quite a lot of it and the cautionary tale of letting your child use you phone to see a pink snake did make me snicker.
The plot is fairly light so you can pick up and put down again after a chapter or two and I never felt any real incentive to keep reading. Apart from the character of Robin we never really get to know anyone else within the book which is a shame as her two new friends, Finola and the other one whose name escapes me, seem to have great potential as fictional people. Auntie Kath deserves a book all about herself as well. The romance angle was a bit of a non-starter too as Robin's decisions in that department were largely deplorable, although it did make me realise I am not cut out for dating anymore if that's what its really like.
Overall it passes the time and will raise a few giggles but I just couldn't connect with the main character and if you don't then it kind of ruins the whole book as there isn't too much else to grab hold of. I did give it 3 Stars as the writing flow is good and there are some genuinely funny moments in there. Really it is a solid 2.5 Stars but I am feeling a little generous today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Lego Tony Stark's Sakaarian Iron Man 76194
I know nothing about the "What If" TV show but what I do know is that I absolutely LOVE Mechs and Lego always manage to put somet...
