The first thing that strikes you about this book is the beautifully realised world created as the setting of this book. It all takes place in a world similar to ours but one where not all countries are landbound, the largest being the oceans ruled over by the Sea Queen who governs all territories. Every country has it's royalty and their own specialities. Midas is a land of gold and wealth, Pagos is a land of ice and snow, Keleftis is a land of cold blooded murderers - you get the idea. The strokes I have painted them with her are broad but even if they only exist on the page for a chapter (or less) you get a strong impression of a fully realised world - I am guessing there are copious notes at the authors desk describing the lands and their peoples.
The basis of the world borrows much from all different mythologies - from the Greek to medieval folk tales. Mermaids there might be but they are not the seductive half woman/half fish creatures beloved of Hans Christian Andersen and the Sirens are as beautiful and deadly as Greek myth would have us believe but these don't turn in to ugly hags once the sailor is captured. Pirates get an outing too and these are more Jack Sparrow than Edward Teach.
On top of the richly tapestried world you also get a wonderfully crafted tale of adventure and romance. This is a world of, mostly, courtly love and chivalry and just because you are warring families doesn't mean that Romeo can't get and keep his Juliet this time. With interspersed themes of family duty and internal strife and a light dusting of peer pressure it juggles modern mores in to the fantasy setting seamlessly and with joy and verve.
The characterisation is drawn well, with the main players (Elian and Lira) being multifaceted people with opinions often shaped by their own world experience but who aren't afraid to change. You do get brief insights in to others in the book but they are often a little flat and never step beyond the page in the same way Elian and Lira do.
This book may be targeted at the Teen & Young Adult bracket but it is a compelling read for those who long left that categorisation far behind us.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
Tuesday 27 February 2018
Monday 26 February 2018
Secrets Of The Dead by Carol Wyer
I found this to be a wonderfully crafted Crime Thriller and one that is managing to step away from the so familiar tropes prevalent in the genre. Rather than being all about a maverick detective, in this case Robyn Carter, it is about the team work of Robyn, Mitz and Anna in trying to join the dots between a series of murders and narrow in on the culprit. There are the usual red herrings but these are laid in such a way that they seem entirely plausible and based off leads given by the public rather than an interior hunch. To be honest it was a refreshingly straight forward police procedural where the reader gets the information at the same time as the police.
We do follow the standard of having segments told by the killer. Whilst they give us the understanding of who he is targeting and why the author has managed to steer clear of giving us so much information that we know who the killer is. We know some of his family situation and that he works but not where; we know his sister and that he lives alone. Beyond this his identity only becomes clear to us about 3 pages before Anna figures it out. Thats right, the real discovery that leads to his naming and capture is not the detective but her subordinate.
I will admit to being hesitant about purchasing any further books in the Robyn Carter series as the first one I found a bit too patchy in its telling. I am very glad that I decided to persevere as I thoroughly enjoyed this second book. You don't need to read the first to engage with the characters and no mention is made of the first crime so my recommendation would be skip Little Girl Lost and jump straight to this one as Carol Wyer has honed her talent for telling a story and weaving a believable plot.
We do follow the standard of having segments told by the killer. Whilst they give us the understanding of who he is targeting and why the author has managed to steer clear of giving us so much information that we know who the killer is. We know some of his family situation and that he works but not where; we know his sister and that he lives alone. Beyond this his identity only becomes clear to us about 3 pages before Anna figures it out. Thats right, the real discovery that leads to his naming and capture is not the detective but her subordinate.
I will admit to being hesitant about purchasing any further books in the Robyn Carter series as the first one I found a bit too patchy in its telling. I am very glad that I decided to persevere as I thoroughly enjoyed this second book. You don't need to read the first to engage with the characters and no mention is made of the first crime so my recommendation would be skip Little Girl Lost and jump straight to this one as Carol Wyer has honed her talent for telling a story and weaving a believable plot.
Miss Match by Lindzee Armstrong
I found this book to be very hit and miss, some segments I loved and others left me wanting to just tear my hair out in frustration. The whole "love triangle" thing left me completely cold as I found it to be lacking in any real warmth or believability. Brooke is a not very sympathetic character and I found her to be written as pretty shallow and naive, I certainly didn't care about whether she would realise that her Billionaire Best Friend, Luke, was the love of her life over arty and faithless Antonio. In fact her relationship with Antonio is actually appalling in the way he seeks to control her every move, so toxic.
However, I really enjoyed the matchmaking sections at Toujour and Luke's disastrous first dates. In fact he is the only character that was able to drive any sort of empathy from me. I could certainly have done with more tales of his dating disasters over Brooke's endless whining over her love life.
Sorry this was definitely not one for me.
However, I really enjoyed the matchmaking sections at Toujour and Luke's disastrous first dates. In fact he is the only character that was able to drive any sort of empathy from me. I could certainly have done with more tales of his dating disasters over Brooke's endless whining over her love life.
Sorry this was definitely not one for me.
The Source by J.D. Horn
The second book in the series did not disappoint at all. We join Mercy as her pregnancy progresses and she hunts for her sister, Maisie, in the strange netherworld that The Line has banished her too. With her power restricted by the families she can do so little with what she has left but she is determined to make it count, even if that means ignoring her tuition with the former golem, Emmet, and spending more time with Mother Jilo.
The characters are just as richly drawn in this second outing and the setting is completely submersive. I normally have a tendency to race through books but I found myself once again savouring this book and rationing myself to a few chapters a day to draw out the pleasure of joining this richly tapestried world.
There are genuine moments of peril and you do feel connected to the Taylors and the Tierneys throughout the book. The characters feel so real and often make quite serious mistakes in judgement due to following their heart into a situation rather than their head. This makes you believe this could be a real world and one you would love to inhabit - dangerous demons and all. The relationship between Oliver and Adam is beautifully drawn, their yearning for each other is wonderful and it is just casually dropped in that Adam is a man of colour, making inter-racial homosexuality seem no big deal in a Southern State without smacking of the author having a political agenda.
Definitely a series that needs to be read in order as there is no real introduction to the characters and you just dive right in where book one finished. There is a little explanation of the back story but it does presume you have read The Line (and is all the better for that in my opinion).
The characters are just as richly drawn in this second outing and the setting is completely submersive. I normally have a tendency to race through books but I found myself once again savouring this book and rationing myself to a few chapters a day to draw out the pleasure of joining this richly tapestried world.
There are genuine moments of peril and you do feel connected to the Taylors and the Tierneys throughout the book. The characters feel so real and often make quite serious mistakes in judgement due to following their heart into a situation rather than their head. This makes you believe this could be a real world and one you would love to inhabit - dangerous demons and all. The relationship between Oliver and Adam is beautifully drawn, their yearning for each other is wonderful and it is just casually dropped in that Adam is a man of colour, making inter-racial homosexuality seem no big deal in a Southern State without smacking of the author having a political agenda.
Definitely a series that needs to be read in order as there is no real introduction to the characters and you just dive right in where book one finished. There is a little explanation of the back story but it does presume you have read The Line (and is all the better for that in my opinion).
Tuesday 20 February 2018
Villa Of Secrets by Patricia Wilson
I never take the Publisher's blurb too seriously and just use it to get an idea of the subject matter of the book. In this case I clearly mis-read it because this book is nothing like I thought it would be. The opening chapters tell of two orphaned sisters - Rebecca and Naomi - who have been raised by their Bubba and are now grown women forging their own way in the world. Estranged from each other by Rebecca's choice of husband we learn of their parallel lives. This is what I thought the book would be about - how they came to be estranged and how they came back together.
Instead this is a powerful book about a tough woman, Pandora Cohen, feisty and fearless she avoided the Nazi cleansing of her people from the Island of Rhodes and strove to protect the island from the invaders; despite it's populace not wanting "her kind", the Jewish "kind". It did open up an area of history that I had never thought of before - I always associated the Nazi atrocities with Holland, France, Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia but never even stopped to think about other European countries. I didn't even know that Rhodes used to be Italian territory, thinking of it always as the Greek holiday destination of now.
Told through the pages of Bubba's diaries we learn of the Andartes and their push to free the Dodecanese from German occupation. The telling is full of life and is so fresh and human it feels, ultimately, real. There is everything between those flimsy exercise book pages about Bubba's resistance life, her loves, her fears and her desire to "be brave". You immediately connect with this fictional person and suffer and laugh and love with her, wishing for just an ounce of her spirit.
The juxtaposition with the modern tales of Naomi and Rebecca works well. Particularly Rebecca's trials in her quest for children which is told with compassion and a straightforwardness that leaves you breathless. The only character I could not really connect with is Naomi. Maybe because she is the peacekeeper, the one with the family, the one who just does what is expected without complaint. She is not a Cohen woman.
Set time aside to read this book because you will become sucked into this dangerous world and before you know it bedtime has come and gone, the lights are burning the small hours of the morning away and you just have to read one more diary entry.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
Instead this is a powerful book about a tough woman, Pandora Cohen, feisty and fearless she avoided the Nazi cleansing of her people from the Island of Rhodes and strove to protect the island from the invaders; despite it's populace not wanting "her kind", the Jewish "kind". It did open up an area of history that I had never thought of before - I always associated the Nazi atrocities with Holland, France, Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia but never even stopped to think about other European countries. I didn't even know that Rhodes used to be Italian territory, thinking of it always as the Greek holiday destination of now.
Told through the pages of Bubba's diaries we learn of the Andartes and their push to free the Dodecanese from German occupation. The telling is full of life and is so fresh and human it feels, ultimately, real. There is everything between those flimsy exercise book pages about Bubba's resistance life, her loves, her fears and her desire to "be brave". You immediately connect with this fictional person and suffer and laugh and love with her, wishing for just an ounce of her spirit.
The juxtaposition with the modern tales of Naomi and Rebecca works well. Particularly Rebecca's trials in her quest for children which is told with compassion and a straightforwardness that leaves you breathless. The only character I could not really connect with is Naomi. Maybe because she is the peacekeeper, the one with the family, the one who just does what is expected without complaint. She is not a Cohen woman.
Set time aside to read this book because you will become sucked into this dangerous world and before you know it bedtime has come and gone, the lights are burning the small hours of the morning away and you just have to read one more diary entry.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
Monday 19 February 2018
From Italy With Love by Jules Wake
Uncle Miles has died and now Laurie has been left his classic Ferrari, there's just one proviso - she has to travel across Europe to take the car back to it's birthplace in Maranello. Not only that but Miles has preset the meandering route through France and Switzerland in to Italy and designated certain locations that Laurie has to send postcards from in order to receive her vehicular legacy.
This was such a fun book and dealt more with the awakening of Laurie's character in to the person she should have been all along than anything else. There is romance with the, rather disgusting, Robert who proposes once he can see wealth on the horizon and the enigmatic Cameron. The plot moves swiftly and doesn't become stagnated by "they went here and then here" type scenarios. Instead Ms Wake has picked over the journey and selected only the jewels from the road trip. Laurie's blossoming into the person she was before her parent's divorce and her father's death several years later is wonderful to read and you internally cheer as she decides how she wants to be rather than how others want her to be.
This may not be great literature but it does the most important thing of any book - it entertained me, it made the characters and places come alive in my imagination and it made me happy. Surely that is the greatest testament of any author's work - no matter what the genre, it makes the reader feel sated when reading.
This was such a fun book and dealt more with the awakening of Laurie's character in to the person she should have been all along than anything else. There is romance with the, rather disgusting, Robert who proposes once he can see wealth on the horizon and the enigmatic Cameron. The plot moves swiftly and doesn't become stagnated by "they went here and then here" type scenarios. Instead Ms Wake has picked over the journey and selected only the jewels from the road trip. Laurie's blossoming into the person she was before her parent's divorce and her father's death several years later is wonderful to read and you internally cheer as she decides how she wants to be rather than how others want her to be.
This may not be great literature but it does the most important thing of any book - it entertained me, it made the characters and places come alive in my imagination and it made me happy. Surely that is the greatest testament of any author's work - no matter what the genre, it makes the reader feel sated when reading.
Nightmare House by Douglas Clegg
Whilst the subject matter is well crafted and there are some genuine chills it was the writing style that spoilt this book for me. It is written in what I call "late Victorian" style whereby it switches between first and third person and becomes almost impenetrable as a result. The plot and characterisations are clouded in language and nothing does more than sit on the surface of the page to be read rather than inhabited. Sadly, this means that you never really get chilled by the revelations in the book.
Nobody here is what they seem with everyone, even our narrator, having either major secrets or at least two names. The idea of a house within a house is a strong one and the descriptions of the mysterious Madame Isis and her rituals taking place in a subterranean Egyptian tomb could have been so evocative and enthralling. Unfortunately, because I could not connect with the writing style at all I just didn't feel like I was wandering those dusty paths full of awe and terror at what I would find. The themes of possession and cursed places was strong but I do not feel they were explored adequately - merely touched upon for the reader to make their own leaps to connect the dots
Normally when I have an issue with writing style it all settles down after 3 or 4 chapters and I get used to the timbre of the author's "voice". For me this just didn't happen here and I can do no more than disagree with numerous 4 and 5 star reviews praising this very thing. As a result I am sure I missed some nuances of plot as I will admit I started to almost scan read the book just to get it finished.
Nobody here is what they seem with everyone, even our narrator, having either major secrets or at least two names. The idea of a house within a house is a strong one and the descriptions of the mysterious Madame Isis and her rituals taking place in a subterranean Egyptian tomb could have been so evocative and enthralling. Unfortunately, because I could not connect with the writing style at all I just didn't feel like I was wandering those dusty paths full of awe and terror at what I would find. The themes of possession and cursed places was strong but I do not feel they were explored adequately - merely touched upon for the reader to make their own leaps to connect the dots
Normally when I have an issue with writing style it all settles down after 3 or 4 chapters and I get used to the timbre of the author's "voice". For me this just didn't happen here and I can do no more than disagree with numerous 4 and 5 star reviews praising this very thing. As a result I am sure I missed some nuances of plot as I will admit I started to almost scan read the book just to get it finished.
The Bad Daughter by Joy Fielding
It says everything about Robin's relationship with her family that when her sister Melanie calls to say her father is in hospital her third reaction is that he has been shot. Not something that would cross most of our minds in that situation. It also tells you something about the way the tale is going to unfold. Robin is a therapist, but just the sound of her sister's voice on her voice mail gives her a panic attack; she assumes that her father would be murdered. Safe to say Robin is "damaged" and that all her interpersonal relationships are predicated on this.
This is a story about family dynamics more than the actual crime itself. Robin and Melanie's father is very wealthy and not particularly well liked because of the brashness of his wealth. He is married, for a second time, to Tara who was formerly Robin's best friend at school and has a failed teenage marriage behind her and a 12 year old daughter to show for it. Melanie is a single mother of an autistic child. Her brother Alec has moved well away from Red Bluff after Tara broke her engagement to him to marry his father.
Sadly, a handful of chapters in I was pretty sure of the circumstances that led to the fatal shooting of Tara, Robin's father (whose name I simply cannot recall), and Tara's daughter Cassidy. I did enjoy the interpersonal relationships in the book and the claustrophobia of life in a small town where everyone knows your private business was well depicted but it was somewhat spoilt by knowing the who and how of the crime so early on.
The writing is tight and well paced, with relatively good characterisations of the major players. The relationship between Robin and Blake is particularly well written and felt like a genuine relationship with all its misunderstandings. Without that this would have been a big, fat fail of a book.
Certainly not a "must read" but enjoyable enough.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
This is a story about family dynamics more than the actual crime itself. Robin and Melanie's father is very wealthy and not particularly well liked because of the brashness of his wealth. He is married, for a second time, to Tara who was formerly Robin's best friend at school and has a failed teenage marriage behind her and a 12 year old daughter to show for it. Melanie is a single mother of an autistic child. Her brother Alec has moved well away from Red Bluff after Tara broke her engagement to him to marry his father.
Sadly, a handful of chapters in I was pretty sure of the circumstances that led to the fatal shooting of Tara, Robin's father (whose name I simply cannot recall), and Tara's daughter Cassidy. I did enjoy the interpersonal relationships in the book and the claustrophobia of life in a small town where everyone knows your private business was well depicted but it was somewhat spoilt by knowing the who and how of the crime so early on.
The writing is tight and well paced, with relatively good characterisations of the major players. The relationship between Robin and Blake is particularly well written and felt like a genuine relationship with all its misunderstandings. Without that this would have been a big, fat fail of a book.
Certainly not a "must read" but enjoyable enough.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
Sunday 18 February 2018
A Year In Books
Just stumbled across this when wasting time on Goodreads:
Made me realise what a wide range of genres I had ploughed through. Hopefully that range will expand even further in 2018.
The Big Dreams Beach Hotel by Lilly Bartlett
This book wraps you in a big comforting hug and doesn't want to let you go. Written with warmth, humour and a good dose of reality the characters live and breathe beyond the page and you are left feeling that they are still scuttling around their renovated hotel long after your reading has finished.
The tale swaps between Rosie's life in New York and her ambitions for her career until she meets Chuck. It then jumps forward to Scarborough and her job of the last 3 years managing a rather run down Victorian pile that has a combination of permanent residents and short term guests. Maybe that is why I enjoyed the book so much it reminded of me of holidays in the late 1970s to Scarborough for a week every year - in fact in my mind the hotel was The Grand perched perilously on the North Bay Cliffs (even though this hotel is closer to The Spa at the Southern end of the bay).
The characterisation was wonderful and, no matter how minor to the story someone may be, everyone had a real sense of humanity about them and of complicated personality. I did find Rosie rather annoying much of the time and wanted to give her a good shake; how Rory put up with her subservience to the new bosses I really don't know. That said Rory comes across as a bit of a milquetoast despite his role as a freelance transition manager so that likely explains it.
The plot unrolls at a pace which feels natural and never really gets bogged down in mundanities. Instead it inserts flashbacks so that when we rejoin our intrepid hotel family things have moved on by weeks or months. The descriptions of the execrable uniforms and decor imposed by the American overlords were genuinely funny - although, if you lived them I am sure they would make you weep. I was also a big fan of how long it took us to find out what had happened with Chuck that made Rosie run back home to Scarborough.
I genuinely enjoyed the tale and felt it almost lived up to the Carlton Road books which I absolutely adored. If you enjoy this particular genre then this is the book for you - but don't take it on your commute, you will miss your stop!
The tale swaps between Rosie's life in New York and her ambitions for her career until she meets Chuck. It then jumps forward to Scarborough and her job of the last 3 years managing a rather run down Victorian pile that has a combination of permanent residents and short term guests. Maybe that is why I enjoyed the book so much it reminded of me of holidays in the late 1970s to Scarborough for a week every year - in fact in my mind the hotel was The Grand perched perilously on the North Bay Cliffs (even though this hotel is closer to The Spa at the Southern end of the bay).
The characterisation was wonderful and, no matter how minor to the story someone may be, everyone had a real sense of humanity about them and of complicated personality. I did find Rosie rather annoying much of the time and wanted to give her a good shake; how Rory put up with her subservience to the new bosses I really don't know. That said Rory comes across as a bit of a milquetoast despite his role as a freelance transition manager so that likely explains it.
The plot unrolls at a pace which feels natural and never really gets bogged down in mundanities. Instead it inserts flashbacks so that when we rejoin our intrepid hotel family things have moved on by weeks or months. The descriptions of the execrable uniforms and decor imposed by the American overlords were genuinely funny - although, if you lived them I am sure they would make you weep. I was also a big fan of how long it took us to find out what had happened with Chuck that made Rosie run back home to Scarborough.
I genuinely enjoyed the tale and felt it almost lived up to the Carlton Road books which I absolutely adored. If you enjoy this particular genre then this is the book for you - but don't take it on your commute, you will miss your stop!
Ignited by Desni Dantone
I wasn't exactly sure where this book was going at first. Was the mysterious Nathan Nephilim? Was he her Guardian Angel? It even crossed my mind that he might be a were-creature of some sort. Turns out neither of those was the right answer, but the reveal of what the 5% of him is that isn't human takes a while. When it comes it isn't particularly shocking but makes you wonder how you missed the clues - as they are there.
The tale itself is well paced but the situations are a little fantastical. I was with the characters most of the way though and did find that I cared what happened to them. The only suspensions of disbelief were the car chase after the beach party and then the underground lair. They just felt bolted into the story somehow and didn't have near the flow of the hideout at the little cabin, almost as if the author was trying too hard to get action into the tale. It's not often I say this but maybe they should have been allowed a few more pages to develop instead of rushing into them.
The characterisation is particularly good for Kris, Nathan and Alex but everyone else is a bit too one dimensional for my tastes. Although the character of Cassie, as the token full human, has promise to develop well in the further books in the series. The blending of mythology in to a modern fantasy works well and the author has managed to make it feel relatively realistic whilst giving the feeling of worlds along the one we trust to be true.
All that said I didn't end the book wanting to rush and get the next in the series. Written well enough with a fairly strong plot it just didn't grab me enough to want to know how it all turns out.
The tale itself is well paced but the situations are a little fantastical. I was with the characters most of the way though and did find that I cared what happened to them. The only suspensions of disbelief were the car chase after the beach party and then the underground lair. They just felt bolted into the story somehow and didn't have near the flow of the hideout at the little cabin, almost as if the author was trying too hard to get action into the tale. It's not often I say this but maybe they should have been allowed a few more pages to develop instead of rushing into them.
The characterisation is particularly good for Kris, Nathan and Alex but everyone else is a bit too one dimensional for my tastes. Although the character of Cassie, as the token full human, has promise to develop well in the further books in the series. The blending of mythology in to a modern fantasy works well and the author has managed to make it feel relatively realistic whilst giving the feeling of worlds along the one we trust to be true.
All that said I didn't end the book wanting to rush and get the next in the series. Written well enough with a fairly strong plot it just didn't grab me enough to want to know how it all turns out.
Monday 12 February 2018
The Second Child by Caroline Bond
In an attempt to show that he really cares about his severely disabled daughter Phil takes Lauren to one of her many scheduled hospital appointments. He only does so because his wife, Sarah, is at the end of her rope and he knows he has been more absent than engaged. One chance comment about blood typing sends their world into a tailspin. Not only is Lauren not his but she's not Sarah's either. So starts the tale of piecing together what happened to make them take the wrong daughter home, who is their real daughter and how will her family react?
This book is sensitively written and covers not only the trials of having a very disabled child but balancing that against the needs of your able-bodied, older child whose needs are, necessarily, pushed in to second place. Nowhere within these pages are the difficult balancing act shied away from. With petty squabbles explored and daily life, in all it's tedium and grind taking centre stage.
Once their real daughter is found, Sarah in particular finds it hard to adjust and let this teenager in to not only their lives but her heart. The juxtaposition of Lauren and Rosie is handled well and never manages to slip into parody, it is simply the bare fact that one is disabled and one is not. As their lives settle in to a period of visits and awkward discussions with Alice (Rosie's mother) each family strives to find it's own way through.
I did worry that this novel would descend into mawkishness but somehow this is avoided. No mean feat by Ms. Bond due to the exceptionally emotional subject matter. The reveal as to how the swap came about is agonising and throws yet more questions into the mix.
I found myself completely sucked in to this world and found that I empathised with both mothers and was bewildered as to how you could make a decision about a child you have nurtured for 14 years but that isn't biologically yours. I was slightly annoyed that the father's feelings were so clear cut so early on and did wonder if enough depth had gone into his character. However, as the tale unfolds you realise that Phil isn't simply there as a foil to Sarah's anguish but a necessary rock for her to cling to.
Wonderfully written in a straightforward manner that captivates.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
This book is sensitively written and covers not only the trials of having a very disabled child but balancing that against the needs of your able-bodied, older child whose needs are, necessarily, pushed in to second place. Nowhere within these pages are the difficult balancing act shied away from. With petty squabbles explored and daily life, in all it's tedium and grind taking centre stage.
Once their real daughter is found, Sarah in particular finds it hard to adjust and let this teenager in to not only their lives but her heart. The juxtaposition of Lauren and Rosie is handled well and never manages to slip into parody, it is simply the bare fact that one is disabled and one is not. As their lives settle in to a period of visits and awkward discussions with Alice (Rosie's mother) each family strives to find it's own way through.
I did worry that this novel would descend into mawkishness but somehow this is avoided. No mean feat by Ms. Bond due to the exceptionally emotional subject matter. The reveal as to how the swap came about is agonising and throws yet more questions into the mix.
I found myself completely sucked in to this world and found that I empathised with both mothers and was bewildered as to how you could make a decision about a child you have nurtured for 14 years but that isn't biologically yours. I was slightly annoyed that the father's feelings were so clear cut so early on and did wonder if enough depth had gone into his character. However, as the tale unfolds you realise that Phil isn't simply there as a foil to Sarah's anguish but a necessary rock for her to cling to.
Wonderfully written in a straightforward manner that captivates.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
Lightning Rider by Jen Greyson
Evy Rivera is one tough cookie, she has to be as she works in the world of Custom Bikes and some of her clients are a little on the unsavoury side. Her motorbike is her pride and joy and the feeling that pushing the boundaries on it gives her exhilarates like nothing else can. The only downside is Lightning, as it cracks and fires across the sky it rips her apart inside and she has begun to dread the regular storms. With terrible taste in men and a loving Latina family Evy is just a regular woman trying to make her way in life. Until she gets trapped in the mountains during a storm and suddenly, she isn't in the mountains any more.
Wonderful pacing helps to bring the tale alive here. The only character we really get a handle on is Evy; everyone else if a little flat and only manages to break in to two dimensions (at best). This isn't too much of a detriment to the tale as it is purely and simply about Evy and her first alteration as a true lightning rider. Menace comes in bucket loads in this book - not just from the unfamiliar setting of Ancient Spain and her sudden appearance in a Roman Military Camp but also from Ilif (a man very much with his own agenda).
The setting is well constructed and Ancient Spain really does just feel a heartbeat away, tucked behind a fold in time that we could reach if only we could manipulate the lightning/ I did find the relationship between Evy and Constantine a touch overwrought and couldn't really get behind the romance of it. The descriptions of the Roman Camp were evocative and you could almost hear the clash of practising swordsmen and the debate of tactics. I also liked that camp followers were mentioned, however there would have been substantially more than one armouress with them.
A well balanced book that sets the tone for the series very nicely. Strong time travelling fantasy that takes you back to an ancient world we know so much and yet so little about.
Wonderful pacing helps to bring the tale alive here. The only character we really get a handle on is Evy; everyone else if a little flat and only manages to break in to two dimensions (at best). This isn't too much of a detriment to the tale as it is purely and simply about Evy and her first alteration as a true lightning rider. Menace comes in bucket loads in this book - not just from the unfamiliar setting of Ancient Spain and her sudden appearance in a Roman Military Camp but also from Ilif (a man very much with his own agenda).
The setting is well constructed and Ancient Spain really does just feel a heartbeat away, tucked behind a fold in time that we could reach if only we could manipulate the lightning/ I did find the relationship between Evy and Constantine a touch overwrought and couldn't really get behind the romance of it. The descriptions of the Roman Camp were evocative and you could almost hear the clash of practising swordsmen and the debate of tactics. I also liked that camp followers were mentioned, however there would have been substantially more than one armouress with them.
A well balanced book that sets the tone for the series very nicely. Strong time travelling fantasy that takes you back to an ancient world we know so much and yet so little about.
Sunday 11 February 2018
Turn Towards The Sun by Emma Davies
I wasn't aware when I purchased this book that it was a sequel. However, this is made abundantly clear as soon as you start reading. The Author has presumed that we, the reader, are already au fait with the world of Rowan Hill and the populace of this idyllic retreat. I nearly gave up because it was a pretty much impenetrable world but I persevered because so much of the tale is from Lizzie's point of view and she is as anew to this world as we are.
Over all I am glad I did as I enjoyed the tale. The plotting is strong, even if a little transparent as to the identity of the person wreaking all these terrible wrongs in the Tea Shop and Studios. The device of telling the tale from several viewpoints works well as it does allow you to get to know the characters a little more. That said, I found Ellie in particular to be annoying - she just wants everyone to be happy and crashes down in to self-flagellation whenever this goes awry - I desperately wanted to slap her face and tell her to grow up. Lizzie's meekness and anxiety at first annoyed me but as she began to grow and develop a little confidence I did warm to her. Patience, Helen, Jane, Alice and Gins are pretty much closed books to me as they are peripheral to this tale so just fill up page space and the male characters (Will, Ben and Finn) are really just names.
I did find myself getting annoyed at the way Lizzie's background was being dealt with. In many places everyone comes across a little sanctimonious just because she came from a family gripped by poverty so didn't get summer holidays or cinema visits or even nutritious food. I am sure this was not the way the author intended this to come across on the page but, to this reader, it did.
Strangely though, despite all my moaning, I did get sucked in to this peaceful world and found myself reading eagerly on and hoping that Lizzie would be believed. I was even rooting for Ellie's wedding to Will and hoping that all the misunderstandings would get sorted out. I know, I know in this genre they probably did but I still enjoyed getting there.
A solid book that took me quite some time to get into but was worth my perseverance.
Over all I am glad I did as I enjoyed the tale. The plotting is strong, even if a little transparent as to the identity of the person wreaking all these terrible wrongs in the Tea Shop and Studios. The device of telling the tale from several viewpoints works well as it does allow you to get to know the characters a little more. That said, I found Ellie in particular to be annoying - she just wants everyone to be happy and crashes down in to self-flagellation whenever this goes awry - I desperately wanted to slap her face and tell her to grow up. Lizzie's meekness and anxiety at first annoyed me but as she began to grow and develop a little confidence I did warm to her. Patience, Helen, Jane, Alice and Gins are pretty much closed books to me as they are peripheral to this tale so just fill up page space and the male characters (Will, Ben and Finn) are really just names.
I did find myself getting annoyed at the way Lizzie's background was being dealt with. In many places everyone comes across a little sanctimonious just because she came from a family gripped by poverty so didn't get summer holidays or cinema visits or even nutritious food. I am sure this was not the way the author intended this to come across on the page but, to this reader, it did.
Strangely though, despite all my moaning, I did get sucked in to this peaceful world and found myself reading eagerly on and hoping that Lizzie would be believed. I was even rooting for Ellie's wedding to Will and hoping that all the misunderstandings would get sorted out. I know, I know in this genre they probably did but I still enjoyed getting there.
A solid book that took me quite some time to get into but was worth my perseverance.
I, Partridge: We Need To Talk About Alan by Alan Partridge
The first thing you need to know about this book is that you are pretty much ambivalent about Alan Partridge and someone bought it for you, you are probably not going to enjoy it. This really is a book for the dedicated fans of Mr Alan Partridge Esq.,
This is a no holds barred, in depth autobiography of perhaps the greatest radio presenter, sports commentator, interviewer, petrolhead and music system aficionado that has ever graced Norfolk. It details his harrowing childhood with a distant mother and uncaring father. It covers the unremitting bullying he suffered at the juvenile hands of his fellow Norfolkian pupils (Alan "Fartridge"). All of which helped develop him into the broadcasting megastar he surely is.
Most importantly this covers his BBC years. The ill-fated "Knowing Me Knowing You" chat show that was never recommissioned despite being the saviour of BBC Two at the time. Most importantly we get to see the truth behind the infamous "Smell The Cheese" incident with commissioning editor, the late, Tony Hayers that was so heinously misrepresented in the Reality TV Show. We also get to witness, first hand, the break up of Alan's marriage to Carol and his estrangement from his children. Mr Partridge does not shy away form his demons and really does tell all about his Toblerone addiction in harrowing detail. You do wonder how he managed to survive all this and still Bounce Back, whilst having, needless to say, the last laugh. However, Bounce Back the estimable Mr Partridge did and he now commands the Mid-Morning Matters show Monday to Friday on North Norfolk Digital. A true National Treasure who has overcome his inauspicious upbringing to immerse himself in bringing joy to the listening public. Mr Alan Gordon Partridge is a true raconteur.
That is how the review would read if Alan Partridge was a real person. Fortunately, this particular blight on humanity is fictional. Although I am a self-confessed fan of the character I was a little trepidacious beginning this book but I was relieved to find that the tone of the book matches that of the multiple TV Series dedicated to this loon. Much sniggering was done on the couch whilst reading, for much the same reason I laugh at the TV Shows. We all know an Alan - if you don't then YOU are the Alan.
The formatting of the book with multiple footnotes worked well on my e-reader and even the photo section showed up well (this is a particular pet hate of mine). In fact, some of those footnotes contain the funniest sections.
This is a no holds barred, in depth autobiography of perhaps the greatest radio presenter, sports commentator, interviewer, petrolhead and music system aficionado that has ever graced Norfolk. It details his harrowing childhood with a distant mother and uncaring father. It covers the unremitting bullying he suffered at the juvenile hands of his fellow Norfolkian pupils (Alan "Fartridge"). All of which helped develop him into the broadcasting megastar he surely is.
Most importantly this covers his BBC years. The ill-fated "Knowing Me Knowing You" chat show that was never recommissioned despite being the saviour of BBC Two at the time. Most importantly we get to see the truth behind the infamous "Smell The Cheese" incident with commissioning editor, the late, Tony Hayers that was so heinously misrepresented in the Reality TV Show. We also get to witness, first hand, the break up of Alan's marriage to Carol and his estrangement from his children. Mr Partridge does not shy away form his demons and really does tell all about his Toblerone addiction in harrowing detail. You do wonder how he managed to survive all this and still Bounce Back, whilst having, needless to say, the last laugh. However, Bounce Back the estimable Mr Partridge did and he now commands the Mid-Morning Matters show Monday to Friday on North Norfolk Digital. A true National Treasure who has overcome his inauspicious upbringing to immerse himself in bringing joy to the listening public. Mr Alan Gordon Partridge is a true raconteur.
That is how the review would read if Alan Partridge was a real person. Fortunately, this particular blight on humanity is fictional. Although I am a self-confessed fan of the character I was a little trepidacious beginning this book but I was relieved to find that the tone of the book matches that of the multiple TV Series dedicated to this loon. Much sniggering was done on the couch whilst reading, for much the same reason I laugh at the TV Shows. We all know an Alan - if you don't then YOU are the Alan.
The formatting of the book with multiple footnotes worked well on my e-reader and even the photo section showed up well (this is a particular pet hate of mine). In fact, some of those footnotes contain the funniest sections.
An Event To Remember...Or Forget by Melissa Baldwin
Should really be titled when a good premise goes wrong. I was very disappointed in this book, from the blurb it sounded like a fun and frothy piece of chick lit and I am rather partial to such. Unfortunately it did not deliver on either of the two fronts that I judge a book by.
The basis of the plot is that Sienna is working for an Event Planner and has ended up more or less running the whole show with her boss just dropping in for a couple of hours a week to check their plans and then leaving the team to get on with it. So, she has decided to go out on her own and set up her own Event Planning business with her colleague Craig. She has been with Luke for 10 months but he is suddenly becoming distant, he is citing business meetings and trying to snare a new client for his brother's (mat have been brother-in-law) Advertising Agency. This sets us firmly against a series of glamorous private events and extremely glamorous personal events arranged for baby showers, birthdays and engagements of Sienna's closest friends. Mix in one glamorous Australian, Ace, who has all the right connections, a history with Luke and an eager for Sienna and surely sparks will fly.
See, what I mean about it sounding pretty good as a synopsis. The initial plotting is slow and a little boring as all we seem to do is be treated to a series of Sienna's lists (a girl that's good on the organisational front, how unique *coughs*) and her internal panic because she isn't engaged yet. Once Luke and Sienna meet up with Luke at Venice (I think that's what the posh niterie was called but I haven't got the will to go back and check) then all best are off. Sadly everything that happens from this point on is neither a surprise nor that interesting - I mean we know what the genre demands from it's authors and it fulfills that criteria but in such a way as it doesn't engage you.
The characters are all really flat. Sienna has the most input to her psyche but comes across as deeply unlikeable. A bit of a Pollyanna in the beginning and then a wet lettuce when she finds out the truth about Luke. There are glimpses of steel in her backbone at the events but not enough to make her believable. Everyone else is just a little bit of a pastiche of a person.
In my opinion this is definitely one to forget - although, if you want something to read on the commute that will fill a few minutes and you don't have to engage a brain cell to keep up with the plot and the people then this would fill that slot. You certainly won't miss your stop.
The basis of the plot is that Sienna is working for an Event Planner and has ended up more or less running the whole show with her boss just dropping in for a couple of hours a week to check their plans and then leaving the team to get on with it. So, she has decided to go out on her own and set up her own Event Planning business with her colleague Craig. She has been with Luke for 10 months but he is suddenly becoming distant, he is citing business meetings and trying to snare a new client for his brother's (mat have been brother-in-law) Advertising Agency. This sets us firmly against a series of glamorous private events and extremely glamorous personal events arranged for baby showers, birthdays and engagements of Sienna's closest friends. Mix in one glamorous Australian, Ace, who has all the right connections, a history with Luke and an eager for Sienna and surely sparks will fly.
See, what I mean about it sounding pretty good as a synopsis. The initial plotting is slow and a little boring as all we seem to do is be treated to a series of Sienna's lists (a girl that's good on the organisational front, how unique *coughs*) and her internal panic because she isn't engaged yet. Once Luke and Sienna meet up with Luke at Venice (I think that's what the posh niterie was called but I haven't got the will to go back and check) then all best are off. Sadly everything that happens from this point on is neither a surprise nor that interesting - I mean we know what the genre demands from it's authors and it fulfills that criteria but in such a way as it doesn't engage you.
The characters are all really flat. Sienna has the most input to her psyche but comes across as deeply unlikeable. A bit of a Pollyanna in the beginning and then a wet lettuce when she finds out the truth about Luke. There are glimpses of steel in her backbone at the events but not enough to make her believable. Everyone else is just a little bit of a pastiche of a person.
In my opinion this is definitely one to forget - although, if you want something to read on the commute that will fill a few minutes and you don't have to engage a brain cell to keep up with the plot and the people then this would fill that slot. You certainly won't miss your stop.
Saturday 10 February 2018
Reading in 2017
Just a snapshot of my reading in 2017:
I only joined Goodreads on the 1st August that year so I think that smacks of a slight addiction if I'm being honest'
I only joined Goodreads on the 1st August that year so I think that smacks of a slight addiction if I'm being honest'
The Liar's Girl by Catherine Ryan Howard
This tale is told in the way almost every novel from this genre is told - contemporary time, flashback and a snippet from the killer every 2 or 3 chapters. So far, so far trope. However, as I became absorbed in the book - and believe me absorbed is the right word - I soon realised that I was in the hands of a master storyteller. Although there is an element of procedural about it the Gardai are definitely only a minor part of the book and everything really does revolve around Alison.
You see Alison was dating the Canal Killer, Will Hurley, when he was arrested for the murder of her best friend since school days, Liz. The book takes us through how these events have marred Alison's life, leaving her unable to trust her own judgement or let people get close to her. It is a secret that she hugs to herself and sets her slightly apart from the group of Ex-Pats she socialises with in her new life in Den Hag.
We move seamlessly between present day Dublin and Alison's reminiscences of her youth. When the killer strikes again, 10 years later, Will Hurley has information for the police but will only speak to Alison. Feeling slightly pressured when they doorstep her on a hungover morning at her home she finally agrees to return to Dublin and speak to Will. As she lands on home soil all the memories come rushing back.
I loved the character of Alison even if I wanted to shake her younger self for allowing Liz to trample all over her. She is a strikingly normal person and the character manages to remain true to herself throughout the book - no sudden instance of her becoming Miss Marple - even as the pieces of the jigsaw start to slot in to place she makes no leap of understanding to get to the identity of the killer. She finds out when we do, with no needless red herrings thrown in for the sake of confusing the reader.
This is a tightly written novel and you don't so much read it an inhale the words off the page. The pacing is perfectly executed with just enough twists to keep you guessing and enough detail about the streets of Dublin to make you boot up a mapping application to see the streets this is set in. Whilst some locations are fictional some are not and I got to walk the virtual streets alongside her, calling in for coffee at the picket fenced cafe.
I sort of saw the big twist at the end of the book coming but it still managed to somehow shock me. What happens in the rest of Alison's life we will never know but she has renewed her relationship with her mother, her best friend from the ex-pat community, Sal, knows her dark past and is providing support, there is a whiff of romance with Garda Officer Malone; hopefully everything will work out for her - she deserves it.
This is a stand out book in a busy genre and only the authors second; which makes her achievements here all the more incredible. It really did renew my faith in psychological thrillers just as I was beginning to think I should give up reading them because so many had disappointed on so many levels.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
You see Alison was dating the Canal Killer, Will Hurley, when he was arrested for the murder of her best friend since school days, Liz. The book takes us through how these events have marred Alison's life, leaving her unable to trust her own judgement or let people get close to her. It is a secret that she hugs to herself and sets her slightly apart from the group of Ex-Pats she socialises with in her new life in Den Hag.
We move seamlessly between present day Dublin and Alison's reminiscences of her youth. When the killer strikes again, 10 years later, Will Hurley has information for the police but will only speak to Alison. Feeling slightly pressured when they doorstep her on a hungover morning at her home she finally agrees to return to Dublin and speak to Will. As she lands on home soil all the memories come rushing back.
I loved the character of Alison even if I wanted to shake her younger self for allowing Liz to trample all over her. She is a strikingly normal person and the character manages to remain true to herself throughout the book - no sudden instance of her becoming Miss Marple - even as the pieces of the jigsaw start to slot in to place she makes no leap of understanding to get to the identity of the killer. She finds out when we do, with no needless red herrings thrown in for the sake of confusing the reader.
This is a tightly written novel and you don't so much read it an inhale the words off the page. The pacing is perfectly executed with just enough twists to keep you guessing and enough detail about the streets of Dublin to make you boot up a mapping application to see the streets this is set in. Whilst some locations are fictional some are not and I got to walk the virtual streets alongside her, calling in for coffee at the picket fenced cafe.
I sort of saw the big twist at the end of the book coming but it still managed to somehow shock me. What happens in the rest of Alison's life we will never know but she has renewed her relationship with her mother, her best friend from the ex-pat community, Sal, knows her dark past and is providing support, there is a whiff of romance with Garda Officer Malone; hopefully everything will work out for her - she deserves it.
This is a stand out book in a busy genre and only the authors second; which makes her achievements here all the more incredible. It really did renew my faith in psychological thrillers just as I was beginning to think I should give up reading them because so many had disappointed on so many levels.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
The Line by J.D. Horn
Confession time, I only bought this book because the series was on offer for a price I simply could not ignore and it is a while since I last read something from this genre that didn't involve ghosts. Sometimes the Book Gods smile on us mere readers and this was one of these times.
The Taylor Family are notorious in Savannah, everyone knows there's something not quite "right" about them but in a dangerous way so they garner respect through fear. Mercy and Maisie are members of the clan and heading rapidly to their 21st Birthday, a time to celebrate surely. For Mercy it is life as normal, no power, a major league crush on her twin sister's boyfriend and taking her Liar's Tour through Savannah. Maisie got all the power, the beauty and the attention of the family Matriarch, Ginny. She is being groomed to take over as The Anchor and her powers are swelling. When Ginny is found murdered a chain of events is set in motion that cannot be stopped and powerless Mercy finds herself in the middle of it all.
From the HooDoo priestess Jilo and her stolen power, the golem Emmet and the 9 family representatives animating his body grown from the earth to the half-wraith little boy Wren this is a completely believable fantastical world. One where the 10 families are trying to keep the shadows at bay and protect mankind from the demons that used to run the earth. The characters within this book are varied and fully fleshed and the, almost political, machinations take this a step up from the usual magical world fare.
I was hooked from the first descriptions of the Liar's Tour and would have loved to see more of that, we only get a snapshot though. The Taylor family themselves are as varied as any other, despite their obvious wealth. Somehow the author manages to weave the fantastical around all too human traits of jealousy and love without any of it feeling out of place.
This is a book for fans of the genre to savour (I managed to spread it over several days by reading other books alongside it) and I am not rushing to read the next one. I want to let it all sink in before I jump in to books 2, 3 and 4.
The Taylor Family are notorious in Savannah, everyone knows there's something not quite "right" about them but in a dangerous way so they garner respect through fear. Mercy and Maisie are members of the clan and heading rapidly to their 21st Birthday, a time to celebrate surely. For Mercy it is life as normal, no power, a major league crush on her twin sister's boyfriend and taking her Liar's Tour through Savannah. Maisie got all the power, the beauty and the attention of the family Matriarch, Ginny. She is being groomed to take over as The Anchor and her powers are swelling. When Ginny is found murdered a chain of events is set in motion that cannot be stopped and powerless Mercy finds herself in the middle of it all.
From the HooDoo priestess Jilo and her stolen power, the golem Emmet and the 9 family representatives animating his body grown from the earth to the half-wraith little boy Wren this is a completely believable fantastical world. One where the 10 families are trying to keep the shadows at bay and protect mankind from the demons that used to run the earth. The characters within this book are varied and fully fleshed and the, almost political, machinations take this a step up from the usual magical world fare.
I was hooked from the first descriptions of the Liar's Tour and would have loved to see more of that, we only get a snapshot though. The Taylor family themselves are as varied as any other, despite their obvious wealth. Somehow the author manages to weave the fantastical around all too human traits of jealousy and love without any of it feeling out of place.
This is a book for fans of the genre to savour (I managed to spread it over several days by reading other books alongside it) and I am not rushing to read the next one. I want to let it all sink in before I jump in to books 2, 3 and 4.
Got There
Well, that didn't take as long as I thought it would - blog set up and all entries updated in chronological order.
The more eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed that there are multiple updates for the same publication date of the original review (original reviews were posted on Goodreads). This is purely down to the fact that I work 12 hour shifts and so continue reading on those days but don't tend to gravitate to my PC for more than a quick burst of email checking. I am so OCD about it I actually have a notebook specifically for noting the books I have read and their start and end dates so that I can transfer all that information to my Goodreads profile.
FROM HERE ON OUT ALL REVIEWS WILL BE CONTEMPORANEOUS WITH THE DATE/TIME STAMP IN BLOGGER.
The more eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed that there are multiple updates for the same publication date of the original review (original reviews were posted on Goodreads). This is purely down to the fact that I work 12 hour shifts and so continue reading on those days but don't tend to gravitate to my PC for more than a quick burst of email checking. I am so OCD about it I actually have a notebook specifically for noting the books I have read and their start and end dates so that I can transfer all that information to my Goodreads profile.
FROM HERE ON OUT ALL REVIEWS WILL BE CONTEMPORANEOUS WITH THE DATE/TIME STAMP IN BLOGGER.
Before We Say Goodbye by Madeleine Reiss
I was hoping for good things from this book because there was just something about the cover of the book that drew me in. Once I started reading I wasn't really sure where this was going but I was soon swept up in the lives of Scott and Josie, the wonderful mundanity of everyday life laid bare by the sure and certain knowledge that it could all end with one single tick of the clock.
The telling of Josie and Scott's story is poignant without slipping in to mawkishness and I appreciated their no-nonsense acceptance of their situation without a loss of hope. I am not an overly emotional person but it left me with a lump in my throat that I find hard to move - if you are given to venting your emotions then I would strongly suggest ordering a big box of tissues alongside the book as you WILL need them.
It deals with perhaps the most troubling subject matter - the death of a child. Every parent presumes they will depart this realm before their children and surely that is how it should naturally be. Sadly for Josie it looks as though Scott will not allow her this luxury, with his heart failing she clings to hope and acknowledges the guilt she feels that his only hope is the death of another child.
They do get their second chance and whilst at University Scott decides to start Project Boyfriend. His mother has been alone for all his young life and he wants to rescue her from that loneliness. The men that reply are weird and wonderful and none are quite right for Josie, but she grits her teeth and tries for her son's sake.
This is an outstandingly human tale and told with warmth and understanding. You will burn the midnight oil to read just one more chapter even though you don't want the end to come crashing over you like the sea at their beloved Bowick Beach.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
**Review originally published February 4th, 2018**
The telling of Josie and Scott's story is poignant without slipping in to mawkishness and I appreciated their no-nonsense acceptance of their situation without a loss of hope. I am not an overly emotional person but it left me with a lump in my throat that I find hard to move - if you are given to venting your emotions then I would strongly suggest ordering a big box of tissues alongside the book as you WILL need them.
It deals with perhaps the most troubling subject matter - the death of a child. Every parent presumes they will depart this realm before their children and surely that is how it should naturally be. Sadly for Josie it looks as though Scott will not allow her this luxury, with his heart failing she clings to hope and acknowledges the guilt she feels that his only hope is the death of another child.
They do get their second chance and whilst at University Scott decides to start Project Boyfriend. His mother has been alone for all his young life and he wants to rescue her from that loneliness. The men that reply are weird and wonderful and none are quite right for Josie, but she grits her teeth and tries for her son's sake.
This is an outstandingly human tale and told with warmth and understanding. You will burn the midnight oil to read just one more chapter even though you don't want the end to come crashing over you like the sea at their beloved Bowick Beach.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
**Review originally published February 4th, 2018**
A Darker State by David Young
Set during the Cold War I found it unusual that we were actually behind the Iron Curtain and not in a "those awful Socialists way". Instead this is very much a procedural set within the confines of the People's Police of East Berlin during the mid-1970's,
Although the third in a series having not read the previous two books does not spoil your reading of this tale, it is very much stand alone. The characters are introduced to you in such a way that you get to know them without it being mostly spent rehashing previous books. There are throwbacks to those books scattered throughout but more in the way of the main protagonist, Karin Muller's, thoughts about similarities to previous crimes than anything else.
Struggling to reconcile her life as a mother of 6 month old twins, her fracturing relationship with their father Emil, her new promotion to Major and subsequent heading up of a specialist detective unit Karin has enough going on without the constant impinging of the Stasi. She knows her home life is blatantly spied upon and that they will interfere at every level of her investigation but she still tries to seek out truth.
This book keeps well away from the East Is Bad and West Is Good so beloved of this genre. Instead they are what they are but the people are the same no matter which side of the Anti-Fascist Barrier they fall on.
The flow of the tale is good and the plot unfolds in real time, and flashback, in such a way that you do keep turning those pages. Be it Karin's struggles at home, her doubts about Tilsner and her dubious relationship with Stasi hierarchy; you want to know it all.
I'm not entirely sure that I could be persuaded to read the earlier books in this series though. I did enjoy this book but more as a one off than any real investment in the people and places. It is well written but just didn't grip me enough to make me invested in the characters. I'm not sure what was missing for me but there was always something just out of reach that could have transformed this from a good book to a great book.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
**Review originally published February 3rd, 2018**
Although the third in a series having not read the previous two books does not spoil your reading of this tale, it is very much stand alone. The characters are introduced to you in such a way that you get to know them without it being mostly spent rehashing previous books. There are throwbacks to those books scattered throughout but more in the way of the main protagonist, Karin Muller's, thoughts about similarities to previous crimes than anything else.
Struggling to reconcile her life as a mother of 6 month old twins, her fracturing relationship with their father Emil, her new promotion to Major and subsequent heading up of a specialist detective unit Karin has enough going on without the constant impinging of the Stasi. She knows her home life is blatantly spied upon and that they will interfere at every level of her investigation but she still tries to seek out truth.
This book keeps well away from the East Is Bad and West Is Good so beloved of this genre. Instead they are what they are but the people are the same no matter which side of the Anti-Fascist Barrier they fall on.
The flow of the tale is good and the plot unfolds in real time, and flashback, in such a way that you do keep turning those pages. Be it Karin's struggles at home, her doubts about Tilsner and her dubious relationship with Stasi hierarchy; you want to know it all.
I'm not entirely sure that I could be persuaded to read the earlier books in this series though. I did enjoy this book but more as a one off than any real investment in the people and places. It is well written but just didn't grip me enough to make me invested in the characters. I'm not sure what was missing for me but there was always something just out of reach that could have transformed this from a good book to a great book.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
**Review originally published February 3rd, 2018**
A Family Of Violence by Jon Athan
This is actually a pretty decent book but it is more a psychological tale than a horrific one. It is definitely a gory one and the descriptions of murder are lavish in their descriptions of blade and boot. If you are of a squeamish disposition this is not the book for you, I can promise you that.
This short tale follows Stanley King and his gradual dissolution from bullied school boy to a member of a gleefully psychotic family. Ed and Kat believe that you should do what you want, when you want and that only they are free; free from the rules of society, free to kill. We get to watch the descent from relatively normal teen to cold blooded killer. The descriptions of his mental deterioration are handled well and you can feel his warring emotions of terror at his acts and glee at the same.
What spoils this book is the reliance on certain words and phrases; I am pretty sure Mr Athan has just come across the word crepitation in his thesaurus and loved it - goodness knows it appears often enough in the book. In fact it appears so often that loud tuts would be heard from my end of the couch roughly every 5 pages when it made it's umpteenth appearance. Couple this with the overuse of adjectives (we get that Stanley is a wicked/deviant youth/teenager), you do not need to stress how poor this boy's psyche is - we get that from his actions.
The plot is barely there but it does move very rapidly from gorefest to cannibalism to bed wetting and back. Although it was an enjoyable read of the the genre it smacked of being thrown together and tossed out there rather than crafted. Hence the multiple repetitions of reactions (mentioned by other reviewers) and poorly constructed sentences. However, if this is a genre that you enjoy then this is a good read and is short enough that you stay just on the right side of wanting to throttle the author and his style.
**Review originally published February 3rd, 2018**
This short tale follows Stanley King and his gradual dissolution from bullied school boy to a member of a gleefully psychotic family. Ed and Kat believe that you should do what you want, when you want and that only they are free; free from the rules of society, free to kill. We get to watch the descent from relatively normal teen to cold blooded killer. The descriptions of his mental deterioration are handled well and you can feel his warring emotions of terror at his acts and glee at the same.
What spoils this book is the reliance on certain words and phrases; I am pretty sure Mr Athan has just come across the word crepitation in his thesaurus and loved it - goodness knows it appears often enough in the book. In fact it appears so often that loud tuts would be heard from my end of the couch roughly every 5 pages when it made it's umpteenth appearance. Couple this with the overuse of adjectives (we get that Stanley is a wicked/deviant youth/teenager), you do not need to stress how poor this boy's psyche is - we get that from his actions.
The plot is barely there but it does move very rapidly from gorefest to cannibalism to bed wetting and back. Although it was an enjoyable read of the the genre it smacked of being thrown together and tossed out there rather than crafted. Hence the multiple repetitions of reactions (mentioned by other reviewers) and poorly constructed sentences. However, if this is a genre that you enjoy then this is a good read and is short enough that you stay just on the right side of wanting to throttle the author and his style.
**Review originally published February 3rd, 2018**
Little Lady, Big Apple by Hester Browne
The sequel to The Little Lady Agency and it definitely helps if you have read the first one. I would imagine this would work okay as a stand alone read but there is much left out here that presumes you have read the first book and already understand the nature of Melissa's work, friends and family relationships. Fortunately, I am reading in order (for a change) so it felt more like slipping a cosy pair of pyjamas on.
Melissa is just as we left her, in a relationship with Jonathan and sharing a home with Nathan in London. But that all changes when Nathan announces he has got a job crewing a Tall Ship for 3 months and is having the house renovated whilst he is at sea so Melissa is going to have to move out. Then Jonathan drops another bombshell as he just had a promotion in the International Estate Agency he works for and needs to move back to New York. Melissa is torn but decides to take up Jonathan's offer of a holiday stateside, leaving her Agency in the not-so-trustworthy hands of her best friend and her sister.
The writing has certainly stepped up a pace since the first book and the plot flows smoothly and the character interactions are much less "clunky". Again it is a tale of misunderstandings and manners told in a wryly humourous fashion; not laugh out loud but certainly makes you grin. With a cast of out of place Public Schoolboys who have never grown up and New York Socialites it romps gleefully along through the upper echelons of society. Somehow it all feels much more real than the first book.
This is a book to enjoy with a huge glass of wine and a box of very good chocolates by your side, the telephone turned off and your family and friends told to leave you alone. It is not great literature but it does what a good book of any genre should do - entertains and uplifts you.
**Review originally published February 3rd, 2018**
Melissa is just as we left her, in a relationship with Jonathan and sharing a home with Nathan in London. But that all changes when Nathan announces he has got a job crewing a Tall Ship for 3 months and is having the house renovated whilst he is at sea so Melissa is going to have to move out. Then Jonathan drops another bombshell as he just had a promotion in the International Estate Agency he works for and needs to move back to New York. Melissa is torn but decides to take up Jonathan's offer of a holiday stateside, leaving her Agency in the not-so-trustworthy hands of her best friend and her sister.
The writing has certainly stepped up a pace since the first book and the plot flows smoothly and the character interactions are much less "clunky". Again it is a tale of misunderstandings and manners told in a wryly humourous fashion; not laugh out loud but certainly makes you grin. With a cast of out of place Public Schoolboys who have never grown up and New York Socialites it romps gleefully along through the upper echelons of society. Somehow it all feels much more real than the first book.
This is a book to enjoy with a huge glass of wine and a box of very good chocolates by your side, the telephone turned off and your family and friends told to leave you alone. It is not great literature but it does what a good book of any genre should do - entertains and uplifts you.
**Review originally published February 3rd, 2018**
Kiss Me, Kill Me by J.S. Carol
Parts One and Two of this book are well crafted and compulsive reading. Zoe is in a damaging and controlling relationship and the control that her husband, Daniel, exerts over her is complete. From laying her clothes out for the day ahead to selecting exactly what she will eat that day and dictating what time it should be eaten he runs every aspect of her life. Isolated from her best friend, Lizzie, by both miles and the last vestiges of an argument she has nobody to turn to.
You immediately feel angry on Zoe's behalf and wonder why she just can't get herself out of this relationship. Then it unfolds, in flashback, that she has tried but thanks to Daniel's wealth and paranoia he easily tracked her down and sucked her back in to his control. When events spiral out of control Zoe has to take things in to her own hands and she begins to make plans to get away, for good this time.
I liked that we got to see things from Daniel's point of view in the second part. This made him less of a faceless ogre but he is still a deeply unpleasant man. The characterisation to this point is generally good with the main protagonists of Zoe, Daniel and Lizzie being well formed and multi-dimensional.
Sadly this is where it all falls apart. The third part of the tale takes up half of the book (I read on an e-reader so it tells me that it is precisely 50%) and it is a rehashing of her predicament only this time she has painted herself in to this corner more or less knowingly. With the body count rising exponentially it is hard to believe that this is the same book you were enjoying an hour or two ago. I also became very bored with Zoe's meek acceptance of her situation and started wondering why I was continuing to read this book when it angered me so much.
This felt like two different books to me and I did wonder if Part Three wasn't written first and then the author ran out of ideas (or the willpower) to take it further. They then started writing something new based on the earlier writing and ran out of steam there too. So, why not push the two together and make one whole book out of two half-finished ones.
It gets three stars because I loved the first 50% of the tale so much and was completely sucked in to that world.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
**Review originally published February 2nd, 2018**
You immediately feel angry on Zoe's behalf and wonder why she just can't get herself out of this relationship. Then it unfolds, in flashback, that she has tried but thanks to Daniel's wealth and paranoia he easily tracked her down and sucked her back in to his control. When events spiral out of control Zoe has to take things in to her own hands and she begins to make plans to get away, for good this time.
I liked that we got to see things from Daniel's point of view in the second part. This made him less of a faceless ogre but he is still a deeply unpleasant man. The characterisation to this point is generally good with the main protagonists of Zoe, Daniel and Lizzie being well formed and multi-dimensional.
Sadly this is where it all falls apart. The third part of the tale takes up half of the book (I read on an e-reader so it tells me that it is precisely 50%) and it is a rehashing of her predicament only this time she has painted herself in to this corner more or less knowingly. With the body count rising exponentially it is hard to believe that this is the same book you were enjoying an hour or two ago. I also became very bored with Zoe's meek acceptance of her situation and started wondering why I was continuing to read this book when it angered me so much.
This felt like two different books to me and I did wonder if Part Three wasn't written first and then the author ran out of ideas (or the willpower) to take it further. They then started writing something new based on the earlier writing and ran out of steam there too. So, why not push the two together and make one whole book out of two half-finished ones.
It gets three stars because I loved the first 50% of the tale so much and was completely sucked in to that world.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
**Review originally published February 2nd, 2018**
Snoop by Susan E Paul
This is that rarest of things, a genuinely funny book. Ms Paul has a deftness of touch with her dialogue that means you genuinely laugh out loud - a very rare thing, in my experience. Whilst the situation that Julia and Stephen find themselves in is extreme it dealt with in such a way that it fells entirely believable and completely snigger-worthy (even it did make me think about Nana's knitting a certain brand of cereal).
I raced through the book because the timing of the plot is exceptionally good and one that a good few famous authors could take lessons from. Julia and Stephen have moved from their native California to London and Julia is feeling a little out on a limb. No longer working and with her daughter growing up and at school she has time on her hands and worries about the state of her marriage. So she does what any woman in that situation she snoops but when she breaks in to her husband's desk drawer all bets are off.
A tale of misunderstandings and dastardly business practices that hooks you from the outset. With cameo appearences by her newly Jewish mother, her best friend Caroline who can only be described as "ballsy" and the delectable Francois you find yourself wanting Julia's life - even if it is a little bizarre. The scene setting is spot on and the characters are well developed and fully fleshed, if a little outlandish - nobody here is a simpering wallflower.
A great read that will lift you out of the doldrums.
**Review originally published February 2nd, 2018**
I raced through the book because the timing of the plot is exceptionally good and one that a good few famous authors could take lessons from. Julia and Stephen have moved from their native California to London and Julia is feeling a little out on a limb. No longer working and with her daughter growing up and at school she has time on her hands and worries about the state of her marriage. So she does what any woman in that situation she snoops but when she breaks in to her husband's desk drawer all bets are off.
A tale of misunderstandings and dastardly business practices that hooks you from the outset. With cameo appearences by her newly Jewish mother, her best friend Caroline who can only be described as "ballsy" and the delectable Francois you find yourself wanting Julia's life - even if it is a little bizarre. The scene setting is spot on and the characters are well developed and fully fleshed, if a little outlandish - nobody here is a simpering wallflower.
A great read that will lift you out of the doldrums.
**Review originally published February 2nd, 2018**
After The Wedding by Roisin Meaney
I purchased this book without knowing that it was a sequel to One Summer, it becomes very apparent during the first chapter or two that these are a cast of characters that we have met before and the assumption is there that you are already familiar with them. However, there is just enough recapping here so that you can dig on in and get to know them all, along with their backstories, without it being overt or of detriment to those readers who have done the sensible thing and read them in order. This is the real charm of Roisin Meaney's writing - believable characters that seem to effortlessly unspool on to the page and capture you in their web.
There is so much going on in this book - a wedding, a missing child, retirement, fostering of a very damaged teenager - that it could have been very disjointed and confusing. Somehow it all weaves together as a whole and you get the idea of a very real community on Roone. The myriad story threads are weaved skilfully together and each character has their own definite voice with some being substantially more likeable than others. Indeed, so realistic is the setting and the storytelling that you can feel the briny air on your face and yearn for a swift pint at Fitzgeralds.
I'm not quite sure how Roisin Meaney does it but long may she do so. This is yet another book about normal people in (mostly) normal situations but somehow she elevates the mundane to the wonderous.
**Review originally published February 2nd, 2018**
There is so much going on in this book - a wedding, a missing child, retirement, fostering of a very damaged teenager - that it could have been very disjointed and confusing. Somehow it all weaves together as a whole and you get the idea of a very real community on Roone. The myriad story threads are weaved skilfully together and each character has their own definite voice with some being substantially more likeable than others. Indeed, so realistic is the setting and the storytelling that you can feel the briny air on your face and yearn for a swift pint at Fitzgeralds.
I'm not quite sure how Roisin Meaney does it but long may she do so. This is yet another book about normal people in (mostly) normal situations but somehow she elevates the mundane to the wonderous.
**Review originally published February 2nd, 2018**
The Perfect Neighbours by Rachel Sargeant
After a rather whirlwind romance and marriage Helen decides to give up her Head of P.E. post in England and join her husband, Gary, at the International School in Germany. After all, his job comes with a house on Dickensweg and is part of a community of ex-pats who are all teachers at the same school as him. A ready made community to slot in to - so what could go wrong. It would seem that everything can go wrong and will.
This is a rather confused book that doesn't seem to know what it's characters are going to do next so just throws a lot of random information down for you to sift through. I like a good thriller as much as the next person but just chucking out lots of seemingly random information on to the page and then scrabbling to draw it together at the end does not make it a twisty thriller, it makes it a disjointed one. I can see that this is trying to evoke the Scandi-Noir genre but it has all the traits of that genre that make me dislike it so much. Multiple story threads that are developing quite nicely (and in the case of Fiona very interestingly) but that are never so much resolved as dragged to a foregone conclusion before their time.
There are moments of good storytelling here and the isolation of being the "new girl" in an established community and trying to fit in whilst not becoming someone you are not is very well described. The one-upmanship of the existing residents and their very defined pecking order was well realised and convincing. What let it down was the rather grisly ending that befell our Queen Bea and her guests - moderately shocking but falling flat in its execution. The characters never really develop much past the one dimensional and I found that the only one I cared about was Fiona but the denouement of her real identity and what had happened to her was rather clumsy and rushed.
It was enjoyable enough and the pacing was fairly even, it just had more negatives than positives for me so could never be more than 3 stars - I did toy up with 2 but it was better than that (just).
**Review originally published February 2nd, 2018**
This is a rather confused book that doesn't seem to know what it's characters are going to do next so just throws a lot of random information down for you to sift through. I like a good thriller as much as the next person but just chucking out lots of seemingly random information on to the page and then scrabbling to draw it together at the end does not make it a twisty thriller, it makes it a disjointed one. I can see that this is trying to evoke the Scandi-Noir genre but it has all the traits of that genre that make me dislike it so much. Multiple story threads that are developing quite nicely (and in the case of Fiona very interestingly) but that are never so much resolved as dragged to a foregone conclusion before their time.
There are moments of good storytelling here and the isolation of being the "new girl" in an established community and trying to fit in whilst not becoming someone you are not is very well described. The one-upmanship of the existing residents and their very defined pecking order was well realised and convincing. What let it down was the rather grisly ending that befell our Queen Bea and her guests - moderately shocking but falling flat in its execution. The characters never really develop much past the one dimensional and I found that the only one I cared about was Fiona but the denouement of her real identity and what had happened to her was rather clumsy and rushed.
It was enjoyable enough and the pacing was fairly even, it just had more negatives than positives for me so could never be more than 3 stars - I did toy up with 2 but it was better than that (just).
**Review originally published February 2nd, 2018**
The Daughters Of Red Hill Hall by Kathleen McGurl
I found it interesting that our modern day heroine, Gemma, has a penchant for Barbara Erskine novels as this book is trying very hard to slot into the same genre. Parallel tales of history and the modern world; in this case the pre-Victorian and Victorian worlds alongside our own. Unfortunately, Ms McGurl does not manage it with quite as much aplomb.
The story centres around the discovery at a small Bridhampton Museum of a pair of ornate duelling pistols and then weaves the story of Sarah and Rebecca and their lives at Red Hill Hall with Gemma and her best friend Naomi in the modern day town. It is clear from the outset that Gemma is the Rebecca character and Naomi the less-salubrious Sarah and the author invites you to make comparisons between the pairs of girls from the outset.
The tale itself is a good one, dealing with a range of emotions and situations but mainly centering around duplicitousness, envy and just how far some people will go to get what they feel they deserve at the expense of all around them. It moves along at a good pace and the swapping between the historical girls and the modern day ones works well. Sadly, the modern day version is far less interesting and absorbing than the historical sections. Whilst Sarah and Rebecca live on the pages and you get a real sense of complicated human desires from both characters their equivalents of Gemma and Naomi are far less well developed and appear to be fairly flat and uncomplicated. This led to me rushing those sectiosn to get to the intrigue back in Victoria's early reign.
Not a bad book and an enjoyable enough read just needed a lot more "oomph" on the character front.
**Review originally published February 2nd, 2018**
The story centres around the discovery at a small Bridhampton Museum of a pair of ornate duelling pistols and then weaves the story of Sarah and Rebecca and their lives at Red Hill Hall with Gemma and her best friend Naomi in the modern day town. It is clear from the outset that Gemma is the Rebecca character and Naomi the less-salubrious Sarah and the author invites you to make comparisons between the pairs of girls from the outset.
The tale itself is a good one, dealing with a range of emotions and situations but mainly centering around duplicitousness, envy and just how far some people will go to get what they feel they deserve at the expense of all around them. It moves along at a good pace and the swapping between the historical girls and the modern day ones works well. Sadly, the modern day version is far less interesting and absorbing than the historical sections. Whilst Sarah and Rebecca live on the pages and you get a real sense of complicated human desires from both characters their equivalents of Gemma and Naomi are far less well developed and appear to be fairly flat and uncomplicated. This led to me rushing those sectiosn to get to the intrigue back in Victoria's early reign.
Not a bad book and an enjoyable enough read just needed a lot more "oomph" on the character front.
**Review originally published February 2nd, 2018**
The Good Doctor of Warsaw by Elisabeth Gifford
This book is a fictionalised account of the lives of real people during the late 1930's and on through the Nazi occupation of Poland. As such it evokes the true horror that must have been felt by the people forced in to the Jewish Ghettos throughout Poland but this book mainly deals with Warsaw and Lvov, although the atrocities committed in Lublin are mentioned.
Excellently researched we have a real sense of time and place and almost immediately you begin to realise that Ms Gifford is writing about people who actually existed and went through this terrible time. So great was my conviction that this was the case that 30-some pages in I skipped to the Afterword to indeed confirm that Sophia and Misha Wasserman were indeed part of this terrible history alongside Doctor Korczak, Stefa and the children they worked so hard to give normal lives to.
I knew a little about the Polish Jewish Ghettos from an episode of "Who Do You Think You Are" but I had not realised quite how wholesale the Nazi Party's destruction of Warsaw was. Not just the Jewish Ghettos were erased but the whole medieval centre of Warsaw, in what was once the Aryan sector as they realised that they were going to be defeated.
It is a poignant tale, made more so by the daily horrors of cold, dirt and only 200 calories a day. A suppression of daily life that we cannot truely begin to imagine but Ms Gifford works very hard to make us understand. You can feel the dust billowing off the pages and the despair but also the determination that somehow, someway they will avoid the Aktion and be swept away to Treblinka, that tomorrow will come and it will be better.
Unfortunately, it reads almost like a factual text and I never felt really connected with the characters. It is, as the subject matter would suggest, grim and unremitting in it's descriptions of battling to survive just one more day. It is not a book to "enjoy", it is almost a tract to ensure the same things never happen again in the so-called First World and that is a noble pursuit.
Regrettably I cannot give this more than 3 stars. This is simply because the guilt it makes you feel for having such an easy life compared to these people is immense. Other books dealing with this particular era have at least some glimmer of hope to give you and leave you with some semblance of hope for humanity. Despite making it clear that not all perished, the numbers who made it through alive are so miniscule that it chills you. Although I read a vast number of genres I read to be entertained and for enjoyment. This is a book that did neither for me.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
**Review originally published January 26th, 2018**
Excellently researched we have a real sense of time and place and almost immediately you begin to realise that Ms Gifford is writing about people who actually existed and went through this terrible time. So great was my conviction that this was the case that 30-some pages in I skipped to the Afterword to indeed confirm that Sophia and Misha Wasserman were indeed part of this terrible history alongside Doctor Korczak, Stefa and the children they worked so hard to give normal lives to.
I knew a little about the Polish Jewish Ghettos from an episode of "Who Do You Think You Are" but I had not realised quite how wholesale the Nazi Party's destruction of Warsaw was. Not just the Jewish Ghettos were erased but the whole medieval centre of Warsaw, in what was once the Aryan sector as they realised that they were going to be defeated.
It is a poignant tale, made more so by the daily horrors of cold, dirt and only 200 calories a day. A suppression of daily life that we cannot truely begin to imagine but Ms Gifford works very hard to make us understand. You can feel the dust billowing off the pages and the despair but also the determination that somehow, someway they will avoid the Aktion and be swept away to Treblinka, that tomorrow will come and it will be better.
Unfortunately, it reads almost like a factual text and I never felt really connected with the characters. It is, as the subject matter would suggest, grim and unremitting in it's descriptions of battling to survive just one more day. It is not a book to "enjoy", it is almost a tract to ensure the same things never happen again in the so-called First World and that is a noble pursuit.
Regrettably I cannot give this more than 3 stars. This is simply because the guilt it makes you feel for having such an easy life compared to these people is immense. Other books dealing with this particular era have at least some glimmer of hope to give you and leave you with some semblance of hope for humanity. Despite making it clear that not all perished, the numbers who made it through alive are so miniscule that it chills you. Although I read a vast number of genres I read to be entertained and for enjoyment. This is a book that did neither for me.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
**Review originally published January 26th, 2018**
The House Of New Beginnings by Lucy Diamond
It took me a while to get in to this book. Initially it all feels a little bit doom and gloom and a little bit "worthy" and I really didn't think I was going to get what I want from this genre of book - lighthearted enjoyment. Still, I am not one to be defeated by a book (even if it takes me multiple attempts over a number of years I ALWAYS finish I book) so I persevered and I am so glad I did.
We start off with the inhabitants of 11 Duke Street and the passive aggressive notices posted by their landlady Angela. Georgie is just moving in with her boyfriend - she has left her Yorkshire roots behind and is moving in with him to this flat whilst he is on a 6 month job in Brighton. Much of this story is about Georgie and she is very definitely a connecting force between the various feminine inhabitants of 11 Duke Street. When she strikes it lucky and gets a freelance job at a local free paper it nearly destroys her relationship but brings her friendships.
Rosa is licking her wounds from a failed relationship with a lying cheat of a man and is reinventing herself as a trainee chef at a [restigious local hotel (the somewhat exotically name Zanzibar). Charlotte is a solicitor and has moved to Brighton to escape the loss of her baby daughter and the subsequent breakdown of her marriage. Jo lives with her daughter Bea and they are jogging along quite nicely apart from the slight problem of her ex-husband. The best resident of all though is the wonderful elderly French lady who dominates the top floor, Margot. Full of life and with a healthy regard for love she has invaluable advice for one young resident that changes her life for ever.
Now you see why it's all a bit grim to start with. Some of the backstories are genuine emotive and written with such empathy you can immediately identify with the character and feel their pain. Fortunately life moves on and so do these women, they don't all get a wonderful "walking in to the sunset" happy ending but they are certainly very different people when we get to the end of the book.
A Fortune Teller once told Rosa to "grab the joy" and that is what this is about. It doesn't give you unbelievable eternally optimistic characters that believe if life gives you lemons you make lemonade, it gives you damaged people who manage to find their own version of happiness. It achieves something that publishers often tout a book does, but rarely achieves, it uplifts you.
This would have been a 5 star review but there are a few issues simply glossed over that are mentioned once and then it appears the author forgot them. Maybe they weren't that important in the grand scheme of things but it would have been nice to flesh them out a little bit more - I'm looking at "The House Of Fallen Women" here and what happened after Georgie's article went to print. It is touched on only once after the publication and then left to die it's own quiet death. A few smatterings of typos here and there but nothing too bad considering what often gets published these days but just enough to knock off that final half a star.
If you want a book that will put a genuine smile on your face then this one should do the trick very nicely.
**Review originally published January 25th, 2018**
We start off with the inhabitants of 11 Duke Street and the passive aggressive notices posted by their landlady Angela. Georgie is just moving in with her boyfriend - she has left her Yorkshire roots behind and is moving in with him to this flat whilst he is on a 6 month job in Brighton. Much of this story is about Georgie and she is very definitely a connecting force between the various feminine inhabitants of 11 Duke Street. When she strikes it lucky and gets a freelance job at a local free paper it nearly destroys her relationship but brings her friendships.
Rosa is licking her wounds from a failed relationship with a lying cheat of a man and is reinventing herself as a trainee chef at a [restigious local hotel (the somewhat exotically name Zanzibar). Charlotte is a solicitor and has moved to Brighton to escape the loss of her baby daughter and the subsequent breakdown of her marriage. Jo lives with her daughter Bea and they are jogging along quite nicely apart from the slight problem of her ex-husband. The best resident of all though is the wonderful elderly French lady who dominates the top floor, Margot. Full of life and with a healthy regard for love she has invaluable advice for one young resident that changes her life for ever.
Now you see why it's all a bit grim to start with. Some of the backstories are genuine emotive and written with such empathy you can immediately identify with the character and feel their pain. Fortunately life moves on and so do these women, they don't all get a wonderful "walking in to the sunset" happy ending but they are certainly very different people when we get to the end of the book.
A Fortune Teller once told Rosa to "grab the joy" and that is what this is about. It doesn't give you unbelievable eternally optimistic characters that believe if life gives you lemons you make lemonade, it gives you damaged people who manage to find their own version of happiness. It achieves something that publishers often tout a book does, but rarely achieves, it uplifts you.
This would have been a 5 star review but there are a few issues simply glossed over that are mentioned once and then it appears the author forgot them. Maybe they weren't that important in the grand scheme of things but it would have been nice to flesh them out a little bit more - I'm looking at "The House Of Fallen Women" here and what happened after Georgie's article went to print. It is touched on only once after the publication and then left to die it's own quiet death. A few smatterings of typos here and there but nothing too bad considering what often gets published these days but just enough to knock off that final half a star.
If you want a book that will put a genuine smile on your face then this one should do the trick very nicely.
**Review originally published January 25th, 2018**
29 Seconds by T.M. Logan
This is quite an enthralling tale that is very apposite with the rise of the #metoo campaign. Set in Academia rather than the media it deals with the insecurity of being a temporary employee on a fixed term contract as opposed to being a permanent employ and how this can lead to manipulation by those in the position to make those decisions. As is true of most institutions Dr. Sarah Haywood's boss is a man and a man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Women are merely his playthings and he has secured his position with not only his undoubted intellect and charm but also his personal wealth. This means that he is free to harass and abuse his female colleagues who are desperate for a permanent position on the University staff.
It is all handled quite well, even if Alan Lovelock is more than a tad one dimensional. I would have given this 4 stars to be honest as I really did find it an exceptionally enjoyable - if rather daft tale. However, early in the book Sarah puts her mobile phone in its cradle when she gets in the car to leave work; when she witnesses the incident that leads her to meet the man who will change her life forever she goes scrabbling in her bag for her phone. Bit of a jarring continuity error there and it did immediately make me mark this tale down.
This is a rollocking read, a little harrowing in places if you are of a sensitive disposition though. The descriptions of Lovelock's harrassment are brutal and graphic and only just stop short of rape. The discussion of Russian torture practices also leave little to the imagination. However, they do sit within the context of the story so aren't jarring. The silliness of the situation however stops the whole thing becoming traumatic and I actually foudn the plot itself quite, quite laughable - but in a "laughing with it" rather than "laughing at it" way.
Sadly, I don't think this is meant to be a satirical tale but is more intended to be a hard hitting thriller. The whole sub-plot of the enigmatic Russian called "The Magician" or "The Wolf" and his underworld power had no depth or believability so I decided to enjoy this book in my own way and not as I suspect it was meant.
If you are expecting a page turning, breath stealing thriller then this probably won't be one for you. However, if you want a well written piece of thrilleresque guff you will probably really enjoy this - just watch out for the mobile phone!
**Review originally published January 25th, 2018**
It is all handled quite well, even if Alan Lovelock is more than a tad one dimensional. I would have given this 4 stars to be honest as I really did find it an exceptionally enjoyable - if rather daft tale. However, early in the book Sarah puts her mobile phone in its cradle when she gets in the car to leave work; when she witnesses the incident that leads her to meet the man who will change her life forever she goes scrabbling in her bag for her phone. Bit of a jarring continuity error there and it did immediately make me mark this tale down.
This is a rollocking read, a little harrowing in places if you are of a sensitive disposition though. The descriptions of Lovelock's harrassment are brutal and graphic and only just stop short of rape. The discussion of Russian torture practices also leave little to the imagination. However, they do sit within the context of the story so aren't jarring. The silliness of the situation however stops the whole thing becoming traumatic and I actually foudn the plot itself quite, quite laughable - but in a "laughing with it" rather than "laughing at it" way.
Sadly, I don't think this is meant to be a satirical tale but is more intended to be a hard hitting thriller. The whole sub-plot of the enigmatic Russian called "The Magician" or "The Wolf" and his underworld power had no depth or believability so I decided to enjoy this book in my own way and not as I suspect it was meant.
If you are expecting a page turning, breath stealing thriller then this probably won't be one for you. However, if you want a well written piece of thrilleresque guff you will probably really enjoy this - just watch out for the mobile phone!
**Review originally published January 25th, 2018**
The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda
The biggest problem with this book is that the author is trying so desperately hard to make it an edge-of-your-seat ride that it all becomes rather confused. There are red herrings aplenty but I lost faith when we are trying to trace the true identity of Emmy Grey and it starts to look as though Bethany Jarvitz could be her real identity - in the opening scenes our heroine, Leah, is shown a photograph of the battered girl so she clearly knows it isn't Emmy.
The writing style is not clear leading to the narrative becoming muddled and contradictory. Multiple pages are given over to overwrought emotional meanderings of the "poor me" variety as Leah tries to ratify her previous work as a Journalist in Boston and it's rather epic demise with her new role as High School teacher in a sleepy Pennsylvania town. The characterisation is rather flat and I never felt that we had a good idea of who anyone was. This is an intrinsic part of the plot where Emmy Grey is concerned but Kyle Donovan and Leah herself are major player sin the book and yet they are no more than words on a page.
Early attempts at tension are related to what caused Leah to lose her journalism post but by the time it is revealed I really couldn't have cared less. To be honest I wouldn't have been surprised if it had been her incessant whining that caused it; instead it appears that it was her overarching ego and determination that she was right gosh-darnit that caused the loss of that job. How she leapt from that to a teaching job is blurry but just about believable. What isn't is her complete gullibility.
With a poorly executed plot, barely there characterisation and rambling, muddy narrative this has to very much go on the "could do better" pile.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
**Review originally published January 24th, 2018**
The writing style is not clear leading to the narrative becoming muddled and contradictory. Multiple pages are given over to overwrought emotional meanderings of the "poor me" variety as Leah tries to ratify her previous work as a Journalist in Boston and it's rather epic demise with her new role as High School teacher in a sleepy Pennsylvania town. The characterisation is rather flat and I never felt that we had a good idea of who anyone was. This is an intrinsic part of the plot where Emmy Grey is concerned but Kyle Donovan and Leah herself are major player sin the book and yet they are no more than words on a page.
Early attempts at tension are related to what caused Leah to lose her journalism post but by the time it is revealed I really couldn't have cared less. To be honest I wouldn't have been surprised if it had been her incessant whining that caused it; instead it appears that it was her overarching ego and determination that she was right gosh-darnit that caused the loss of that job. How she leapt from that to a teaching job is blurry but just about believable. What isn't is her complete gullibility.
With a poorly executed plot, barely there characterisation and rambling, muddy narrative this has to very much go on the "could do better" pile.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
**Review originally published January 24th, 2018**
The Street Where You Live by Roisin Meaney
This is exactly what I have come to expect from Roisin Meaney, a group of disparate characters who are linked through circumstance or location. The link this time comes from the Amateur Choir that Molly and Emily are part of and then spreads to include customers at the Supermarket where Emily is a check-out girl and Christopher (the choir leader) is the Manager and clients of Molly's house cleaning service.
The characterisation is, as always excellent, and they are living and breathing flawed people from all walks of life. Unfortunately, The Street Where You Live, just felt much, much bleaker than the other novels I have read by this author. There are moments of romance but not much jollity along the way and although I enjoyed reading about the inhabitants of this small Irish town I did find it hard to raise even a rueful smile throughout the book.
It is entertaining and it is a very good study of ordinary people doing ordinary things. The only extraordinary thing about them is quite how dismal they are, maybe the unrelenting sunshine has something to do with that - we just don't get long, hot summers in the United Kingdom and Ireland. I also found the lack of chapters to be a hindrance to reading anywhere other than from the safety of my couch. The first "chapter" is approximately half the book and this makes finding the ideal place to stop quite difficult in a "but how will I know where I was up to way" and not the preferred "Oooh just one more chapter" way.
Sadly not the strongest of her tales due to how unrelentingly gloomy I found it all.
**Review originally published January 23rd, 2018**
The characterisation is, as always excellent, and they are living and breathing flawed people from all walks of life. Unfortunately, The Street Where You Live, just felt much, much bleaker than the other novels I have read by this author. There are moments of romance but not much jollity along the way and although I enjoyed reading about the inhabitants of this small Irish town I did find it hard to raise even a rueful smile throughout the book.
It is entertaining and it is a very good study of ordinary people doing ordinary things. The only extraordinary thing about them is quite how dismal they are, maybe the unrelenting sunshine has something to do with that - we just don't get long, hot summers in the United Kingdom and Ireland. I also found the lack of chapters to be a hindrance to reading anywhere other than from the safety of my couch. The first "chapter" is approximately half the book and this makes finding the ideal place to stop quite difficult in a "but how will I know where I was up to way" and not the preferred "Oooh just one more chapter" way.
Sadly not the strongest of her tales due to how unrelentingly gloomy I found it all.
**Review originally published January 23rd, 2018**
The Little Lady Agency by Hester Browne
Melissa is organised, so organised that she keeps getting mad redundant after knocking the office in to shape and getting things running smoothly. Maybe things would have been different if she could toot her own horn about her achievements but well bred "little ladies" just don't do that sort of thing. So, here she is made redundant from the Estate Agency she has brought kicking and screaming in to some semblance of order, living with her best friend Nathan and trying to dodge her controlling father and doormat, shopaholic, alcoholic mother.
After a brush with working for an Escort Agency she decides that men or "her class" need help. They are sartorially and romantically challenged and she is just the girl to help them, well, her alter ego Honey is. There is a great deal of humour here but it is dissipated by MElissa's long monologues about being lonely and insecure, constantly second guessing herself and feeling decidedly "less than". The juxtaposition between Honey's extrovert and confident nature and Melissa is dealt with well but a little too much time seems to be spent navel-gazing.
When she takes on Jonathan, the American boss of the Estate Agency she used to work for things really start to look up. He just needs someone to guide him round the etiquette of London and show him the sights. It is a tad uncomfortable when he asks to pay for her to take him on as her sole project but at least Honey has the backbone to refuse him. The shenigans of her MP father are rather scandalous and fun and her realisation that her doormat sister, Emery, is not quite as scatty as she seems - hello looking to move to Chicago after the wedding of the century.
It does feel like a glimpse in to another world, a world of privilege where everyone knows everyone in an only 2 steps removed sort of way. Fun and frothy and definitely whiles away the time in an enjoyable enough way.
I did enjoy the book and will, more than likely, pick up the next in the series as I did enjoy her adventures, I just didn't love them.
**Review originally published January 23rd, 2018**
After a brush with working for an Escort Agency she decides that men or "her class" need help. They are sartorially and romantically challenged and she is just the girl to help them, well, her alter ego Honey is. There is a great deal of humour here but it is dissipated by MElissa's long monologues about being lonely and insecure, constantly second guessing herself and feeling decidedly "less than". The juxtaposition between Honey's extrovert and confident nature and Melissa is dealt with well but a little too much time seems to be spent navel-gazing.
When she takes on Jonathan, the American boss of the Estate Agency she used to work for things really start to look up. He just needs someone to guide him round the etiquette of London and show him the sights. It is a tad uncomfortable when he asks to pay for her to take him on as her sole project but at least Honey has the backbone to refuse him. The shenigans of her MP father are rather scandalous and fun and her realisation that her doormat sister, Emery, is not quite as scatty as she seems - hello looking to move to Chicago after the wedding of the century.
It does feel like a glimpse in to another world, a world of privilege where everyone knows everyone in an only 2 steps removed sort of way. Fun and frothy and definitely whiles away the time in an enjoyable enough way.
I did enjoy the book and will, more than likely, pick up the next in the series as I did enjoy her adventures, I just didn't love them.
**Review originally published January 23rd, 2018**
Malevolent by E.H. Reinhard
The best thing I can say about this book is that it is fast paced. You hurtle through the pages in a mad rush to the end. There are two reasons for this, one is that the writing style is such that it propels you through the book the second is that you can't wait to get to the end of it.
The murders are graphic and strangely compelling. Certainly not a methodology that I have come across in the multitude of books and TV programmes of this genre I have watched. I also enjoyed the fact that the killer did not want his victims to die, he wanted them to live, to be his branded legacy.
Unfortunately, away from that the procedural story is, I am sorry to say, boring. The characters are all flat and stereotypical and no empathy could be felt for any of them. Away from the originality of the murders, the behaviours of the protagonist are laughably easy to predict and you know how this is all going to pan out and how.
I can see that the author was trying to give a more realistic view of the procedures in place to investigate a dumped body and I do applaud them for that. In fact the plotting was pretty good (if predicatable, but then we know the cop will always get his man or woman when going in to these tales) and the writing was pacy and strong. what let this down for me was the complete lack of any reality to the characters. All the usual cop tropes were there and nobody was anything more than two-dimensional and restricted to the paper and ink they were created from. Because this genre is so predictable to make a real impact the characters need to be fresh and realistic and lack of such when held up against an overfull library section means that it will always be marked very poorly.
Not for me and I am reluctant to risk any more in the series - I am strangely tempted to see what twisted way of dispatching victims E. H. Reinhard can come up with next so may give the next one in the series a go on a slow reading day
**Review originally published January 23rd, 2018**
The murders are graphic and strangely compelling. Certainly not a methodology that I have come across in the multitude of books and TV programmes of this genre I have watched. I also enjoyed the fact that the killer did not want his victims to die, he wanted them to live, to be his branded legacy.
Unfortunately, away from that the procedural story is, I am sorry to say, boring. The characters are all flat and stereotypical and no empathy could be felt for any of them. Away from the originality of the murders, the behaviours of the protagonist are laughably easy to predict and you know how this is all going to pan out and how.
I can see that the author was trying to give a more realistic view of the procedures in place to investigate a dumped body and I do applaud them for that. In fact the plotting was pretty good (if predicatable, but then we know the cop will always get his man or woman when going in to these tales) and the writing was pacy and strong. what let this down for me was the complete lack of any reality to the characters. All the usual cop tropes were there and nobody was anything more than two-dimensional and restricted to the paper and ink they were created from. Because this genre is so predictable to make a real impact the characters need to be fresh and realistic and lack of such when held up against an overfull library section means that it will always be marked very poorly.
Not for me and I am reluctant to risk any more in the series - I am strangely tempted to see what twisted way of dispatching victims E. H. Reinhard can come up with next so may give the next one in the series a go on a slow reading day
**Review originally published January 23rd, 2018**
Sunflowers in February by Phyllida Shrimpton
The premise of this book greatly appealed to me. What does happen if you wake up dead one morning, the world you knew is still there you can see it quite clearly but there is no way to communicate with it or it's inhabitants. You can see your family and friends going about their daily lives but you cannot interact with them no matter how hard you try. There is no sleep, no hunger and, worst of all no emotion.
This happens to Lily after taking a fateful shortcut down an unlit country road. There is no suspense over what has happened. We know she was run over and we know exactly who was responsible. This, then is to be a book about emotions and how individuals deal with love and loss. The extremes they can go to to make themselves feel a little bit better, a little bit more normal.
The first clue I was not going to enjoy this book was when discussing the arrangements for Lily's funeral. We are told it is the last Friday in February, then it is dated clearly as the 3rd of March, as the day rolls around it is suddenly February again. For some reason this grated with me and I did find it colouring my perceptions of the book throughout the rest of the read. The funeral itself was dealt with well and I loved the little touches of humanity in the mourners.
Unfortunately, I found Lily , and her twin brother, Ben to be completely unsympathetic characters and their actions to be unrealistic. I can suspend disbelief when reading and believe in a Fantasy World, I can suspend disbelief and believe in the Supernatural, I can suspend disbelief and believe that characters made of paper and ink are real and root for them to triumph in the story. What this author failed to me do was suspend disbelief and believe in any, or all, of the above.
I can see where she was going with the tale but felt it needed a heavier hand with the editing. although the editing is clearly there because somehow a cold glass of water is poured and a slice of lemon added without this having being offered as refreshment - it just popped up out of nowhere. I did read the preceding passages two or three times but it is not mentioned and nobody went to the tap either. Strange that something was cut here but that the story itself wasn't tightened up more, in my opinion at least 50 pages could have been cut and it would have strengthened the story and maybe 100 pages could have been cut with little detriment to the tale.
The start of the book is strong and the end is strangely warming and life-affirming. The problem comes in the middle 250 or so pages where it all becomes a little tedious. I am aware that this is a first novel and I believe that the author has talent and can tell a good tale but her editing team let her down badly here. Although I feel a little harsh leaving this review I can only be honest and remind readers of this review that this is my opinion of the story, as told, and is not a personal attack on the author (or the editing team or publishing house) it is just an opinion.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
**Review originally published January 23rd, 2018**
This happens to Lily after taking a fateful shortcut down an unlit country road. There is no suspense over what has happened. We know she was run over and we know exactly who was responsible. This, then is to be a book about emotions and how individuals deal with love and loss. The extremes they can go to to make themselves feel a little bit better, a little bit more normal.
The first clue I was not going to enjoy this book was when discussing the arrangements for Lily's funeral. We are told it is the last Friday in February, then it is dated clearly as the 3rd of March, as the day rolls around it is suddenly February again. For some reason this grated with me and I did find it colouring my perceptions of the book throughout the rest of the read. The funeral itself was dealt with well and I loved the little touches of humanity in the mourners.
Unfortunately, I found Lily , and her twin brother, Ben to be completely unsympathetic characters and their actions to be unrealistic. I can suspend disbelief when reading and believe in a Fantasy World, I can suspend disbelief and believe in the Supernatural, I can suspend disbelief and believe that characters made of paper and ink are real and root for them to triumph in the story. What this author failed to me do was suspend disbelief and believe in any, or all, of the above.
I can see where she was going with the tale but felt it needed a heavier hand with the editing. although the editing is clearly there because somehow a cold glass of water is poured and a slice of lemon added without this having being offered as refreshment - it just popped up out of nowhere. I did read the preceding passages two or three times but it is not mentioned and nobody went to the tap either. Strange that something was cut here but that the story itself wasn't tightened up more, in my opinion at least 50 pages could have been cut and it would have strengthened the story and maybe 100 pages could have been cut with little detriment to the tale.
The start of the book is strong and the end is strangely warming and life-affirming. The problem comes in the middle 250 or so pages where it all becomes a little tedious. I am aware that this is a first novel and I believe that the author has talent and can tell a good tale but her editing team let her down badly here. Although I feel a little harsh leaving this review I can only be honest and remind readers of this review that this is my opinion of the story, as told, and is not a personal attack on the author (or the editing team or publishing house) it is just an opinion.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
**Review originally published January 23rd, 2018**
A Winter's Tale by Trisha Ashley
I have lost count of the number of times I have read this book. I only picked it up as I wanted something familiar to offset a rambunctious thriller that I was reading that required down time every 50 pages or so. Well, that didn't work out too well because this little beauty kept me awake for 2 or 3 hours longer than I should have been thanks to "One more chapter won't hurt".
Yet again Trisha Ashley brings us a range of deeply human and believable characters that live off the page and I am pretty sure outside of her imagination too. Somewhere there is a parallel universe where The Mosses exist and they are populated by these wonderfully realised people. There is no overt characterisation here, instead everything is shown via word and deed so you just soak it all in and suddenly finding yourself giving them stern talking too when they do something silly or lose their temper due to a mis-understanding.
There is a vicarious, behind the scenes thrill to be had here too. Since Sophy inherited the old manor house of Winter's End she sets about cleaning and polishing as if her life depended on it (then again she professes to find cleaning FUN - strange woman) and trying to come up with plans to improve income from the openings. Fortunately her past has seen her work in less-than-stately homes which open to the public so she is trained in basic conservation techniques and has an idea what sells to the public.
There is the usual romantic plot here but somehow that just isn't important, it is just a nice little part of Sophy's journey and that of her Aunt Hebe who is very definitely a "character" in the English sense of the word.
All in all a wonderful down to earth comedy read that puts the biggest of grins on my face.
**Review originally published January 16th, 2018**
Yet again Trisha Ashley brings us a range of deeply human and believable characters that live off the page and I am pretty sure outside of her imagination too. Somewhere there is a parallel universe where The Mosses exist and they are populated by these wonderfully realised people. There is no overt characterisation here, instead everything is shown via word and deed so you just soak it all in and suddenly finding yourself giving them stern talking too when they do something silly or lose their temper due to a mis-understanding.
There is a vicarious, behind the scenes thrill to be had here too. Since Sophy inherited the old manor house of Winter's End she sets about cleaning and polishing as if her life depended on it (then again she professes to find cleaning FUN - strange woman) and trying to come up with plans to improve income from the openings. Fortunately her past has seen her work in less-than-stately homes which open to the public so she is trained in basic conservation techniques and has an idea what sells to the public.
There is the usual romantic plot here but somehow that just isn't important, it is just a nice little part of Sophy's journey and that of her Aunt Hebe who is very definitely a "character" in the English sense of the word.
All in all a wonderful down to earth comedy read that puts the biggest of grins on my face.
**Review originally published January 16th, 2018**
Nucleus by Rory Clements
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and for once didn't race through it to the end, I savoured it. Reading 50 or so pages and then setting it aside to let the themes percolate in the grey matter before picking it back up again an hour or two later. There is just so much going on between these covers that you run the risk of careening off the cliff edge if you don't take a step back.
The telling is wonderfully evocative of the time and place without descending in to farce. It is both a very modern telling and a delicious throw back to a less technological age. The massing of heavy storm clouds of war is oppressive and you can feel the threat of war seeping in to personal and professional lives and yet the telling has a lightness of touch that shows people determined to wring every last scintilla of enjoyment from their lives before the storm breaks.
Apparently, we have already met Tom Wilde in a previous novel about his exploits in Cambridge but having not read this previous outpouring is not a detriment to reading Nucleus. From the off Rory Clements allows us to inhabit the skin of his characters and this is never more apparent than with Tom Wilde and Lydia Morris. It is less easy to slip into the characters of Phillip Eaton and Frau Dr Haas but this is not due to "bad writing" but due to the twisty nature of their characters.
Nobody here is who they appear to be and this is never more apparent than in the case of Henty O'Gara and Mrs Fanny Winch. A wonderful pair of side characters who very definitely deceive the reader in a completely plausible way. Even the glamorous Clarissa Lancing and her American "business partner" Milt. Hardiman are well fleshed out and not all they first appear.
This is a finely honed thriller that actually keeps you guessing with espionage and counter-espionage running rampant you know about as much as out protagonist, Tom, about who he should and should not trust. Set against the peaceful River Cam we are constantly reminded that it is May Week, a time for fun and celebration and this is juxtaposed excellently against the German Threat.
To start talking about the plot here would do a disservice to anyone reading this review. Simply put you need to buy this book and soak it up. With action taking us from the Quaker operated Kindertansport, to Dachau, through IRA terror attacks (as we would term them now) and on to eccentric physicists plying their trade in sleepy Cambridge it has a ton of action. Action that feels very fitting for the late 1930s.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS NOVEL FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
**Review originally published January 16th, 2018**
The telling is wonderfully evocative of the time and place without descending in to farce. It is both a very modern telling and a delicious throw back to a less technological age. The massing of heavy storm clouds of war is oppressive and you can feel the threat of war seeping in to personal and professional lives and yet the telling has a lightness of touch that shows people determined to wring every last scintilla of enjoyment from their lives before the storm breaks.
Apparently, we have already met Tom Wilde in a previous novel about his exploits in Cambridge but having not read this previous outpouring is not a detriment to reading Nucleus. From the off Rory Clements allows us to inhabit the skin of his characters and this is never more apparent than with Tom Wilde and Lydia Morris. It is less easy to slip into the characters of Phillip Eaton and Frau Dr Haas but this is not due to "bad writing" but due to the twisty nature of their characters.
Nobody here is who they appear to be and this is never more apparent than in the case of Henty O'Gara and Mrs Fanny Winch. A wonderful pair of side characters who very definitely deceive the reader in a completely plausible way. Even the glamorous Clarissa Lancing and her American "business partner" Milt. Hardiman are well fleshed out and not all they first appear.
This is a finely honed thriller that actually keeps you guessing with espionage and counter-espionage running rampant you know about as much as out protagonist, Tom, about who he should and should not trust. Set against the peaceful River Cam we are constantly reminded that it is May Week, a time for fun and celebration and this is juxtaposed excellently against the German Threat.
To start talking about the plot here would do a disservice to anyone reading this review. Simply put you need to buy this book and soak it up. With action taking us from the Quaker operated Kindertansport, to Dachau, through IRA terror attacks (as we would term them now) and on to eccentric physicists plying their trade in sleepy Cambridge it has a ton of action. Action that feels very fitting for the late 1930s.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS NOVEL FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
**Review originally published January 16th, 2018**
Little Girl Lost by Carol Wyer
This is a mixed bag of a book and I am still not entirely sure what to think of it. Unusually for the genre the focus really isn't on the procedural side of things or the personality of the investigators. Yes DI Carter is damaged but, although her personal losses are mentioned multiple times, we are not beaten over the head with it and she definitely doesn't let it cloud her work. Yes, she does work more off her hunches rather than the evidence but not in an overtly "maverick" way. So that was entirely refreshing, as was her relationships with other officers and the few scenes set within the station were full of the dark humour, pithy comments and camaraderie that we like to think exist within the Police.
The real problem comes with the actual series of crimes taking place in the book. The opening abuse is needlessly explicit and seems designed to shock and appall rather than to set the scene for the events to come. There are also sections where disbelief must be suspended - seriously, you can just change your name and move town and schools will enrol your child without any sort of information on their past academic history. This is a contemporary tale so I found that completely unbelievable and everyone seems to have a secret identity.
The whole premise is that Alice wants revenge for the "abandonment" of her mother by the actor Paul Matthews. After his son, Lucas, graphically assaults her as a small child they are thrown out and her mother turns to prostitution to survive; once she dies Alice feels duty bound to avenge her as everything that went wrong was all the fault of the Matthew's family. Alice has multiple aliases that she has used over the years and the difficulty now is deciding which of the many female characters in the book is her - is she Abigail Thorne, Zoe Cooper, Claire Lewis, Rachel or someone we haven't even been introduced to yet.
Sadly, in an attempt to keep the reader guessing as to the true identities of every one of the women mentioned above the tale becomes confused rather than twisty. The telling is cloudy and whilst it is good to be kept guessing for a change I did find myself frequently mentally disassociating from the story and trying desperately to marry the events together. The obfuscation should have elevated the story but it was handled rather poorly in places but I do see light at the end of the tunnel for this series, a little more honing of her skills and we could have an excellent author in the genre. I will try the next DI Carter book and may fall in love with the series who knows.
**Review originally published January 16th, 2018**
The real problem comes with the actual series of crimes taking place in the book. The opening abuse is needlessly explicit and seems designed to shock and appall rather than to set the scene for the events to come. There are also sections where disbelief must be suspended - seriously, you can just change your name and move town and schools will enrol your child without any sort of information on their past academic history. This is a contemporary tale so I found that completely unbelievable and everyone seems to have a secret identity.
The whole premise is that Alice wants revenge for the "abandonment" of her mother by the actor Paul Matthews. After his son, Lucas, graphically assaults her as a small child they are thrown out and her mother turns to prostitution to survive; once she dies Alice feels duty bound to avenge her as everything that went wrong was all the fault of the Matthew's family. Alice has multiple aliases that she has used over the years and the difficulty now is deciding which of the many female characters in the book is her - is she Abigail Thorne, Zoe Cooper, Claire Lewis, Rachel or someone we haven't even been introduced to yet.
Sadly, in an attempt to keep the reader guessing as to the true identities of every one of the women mentioned above the tale becomes confused rather than twisty. The telling is cloudy and whilst it is good to be kept guessing for a change I did find myself frequently mentally disassociating from the story and trying desperately to marry the events together. The obfuscation should have elevated the story but it was handled rather poorly in places but I do see light at the end of the tunnel for this series, a little more honing of her skills and we could have an excellent author in the genre. I will try the next DI Carter book and may fall in love with the series who knows.
**Review originally published January 16th, 2018**
Lucy's Little Village Book Club by Emma Davies
Lucy is, not to put too fine a point on it, a meddler. She can't help herself, she has to put people's lives to rights. Having given up on her dream of becoming a teacher she starts work at the local library and that's where her penchant for interfering really kicks in. Starting a book club mean she becomes overly involved in the lives of it's handful of members. Her age is also very hard to pin down, at times her reactions are like those of a mid-teens school girls and at others she behaves like a much older woman - I guess this is realistic as our responses to situations can be all over the place. I did find her irritating and couldn't really understand why the populace of the book seemed to almost revere her.
Fortunately, it is the supporting cast of characters that make this book. This is particularly so with Lia, carer to her mother and desperate to learn to dance, desperate for a simpler way of life, desperate to emulate her mother's youth. The difficulties of looking after someone with Dementia are clearly articulated but with a sense of this is just how things are rather than "poor me pathos" which it could so easily have slipped in to. Her friendship with single mother Hattie is just beautiful and the sort of friendship that we would all love to have.
Hattie's tale of being a single mother is poignant and you have to admire her strength in choosing her situation when you find out what a rat her fiance was. The tension with her family relationships is well told, even though you have a good idea of where this is going and how it links with other characters in the book. We don't choose our families and Hattie's determination to make things right with her mother - even though she doesn't know what she did wrong - is drawn perfectly.
I also loved the fragile gentility of widower Oscar. Definitely a gentleman from another era with the manners and reticence to prove it. The glimpses we get in to his life are heartbreaking but they haven't broken him. He has some rather strident views and misconceptions about people but isn't afraid to apologise when he is wrong and he does his best.
The other "main" character is 19 year old Callum, a young man struggling to better himself, struggling to distance himself from his family who he sees as feckless. He is painfully shy and this comes across so well on the page and when he is "taken in" by bride-to-be Phoebe you do feel for him. The development of his close relationship with Lisa and her family is believable, although I couldn't help but wonder if her cared far more for the idyllic family set up than for Lisa.
I may not have liked the main character at all but the people she is surrounded with are so well drawn that I couldn't help but fall in love with the book. You feel like you are going on their journeys with them and all through the book you are wishing for them to get their happy ending - whatever that might be for each person. The plot is soothing and gentle and even a little thrilling in person as secrets are uncovered and divulged. This could so easily have dissolved in to mawkishness but somehow Ms Davies has avoided this pitfall.
**Review originally published January 15th, 2018**
Fortunately, it is the supporting cast of characters that make this book. This is particularly so with Lia, carer to her mother and desperate to learn to dance, desperate for a simpler way of life, desperate to emulate her mother's youth. The difficulties of looking after someone with Dementia are clearly articulated but with a sense of this is just how things are rather than "poor me pathos" which it could so easily have slipped in to. Her friendship with single mother Hattie is just beautiful and the sort of friendship that we would all love to have.
Hattie's tale of being a single mother is poignant and you have to admire her strength in choosing her situation when you find out what a rat her fiance was. The tension with her family relationships is well told, even though you have a good idea of where this is going and how it links with other characters in the book. We don't choose our families and Hattie's determination to make things right with her mother - even though she doesn't know what she did wrong - is drawn perfectly.
I also loved the fragile gentility of widower Oscar. Definitely a gentleman from another era with the manners and reticence to prove it. The glimpses we get in to his life are heartbreaking but they haven't broken him. He has some rather strident views and misconceptions about people but isn't afraid to apologise when he is wrong and he does his best.
The other "main" character is 19 year old Callum, a young man struggling to better himself, struggling to distance himself from his family who he sees as feckless. He is painfully shy and this comes across so well on the page and when he is "taken in" by bride-to-be Phoebe you do feel for him. The development of his close relationship with Lisa and her family is believable, although I couldn't help but wonder if her cared far more for the idyllic family set up than for Lisa.
I may not have liked the main character at all but the people she is surrounded with are so well drawn that I couldn't help but fall in love with the book. You feel like you are going on their journeys with them and all through the book you are wishing for them to get their happy ending - whatever that might be for each person. The plot is soothing and gentle and even a little thrilling in person as secrets are uncovered and divulged. This could so easily have dissolved in to mawkishness but somehow Ms Davies has avoided this pitfall.
**Review originally published January 15th, 2018**
Good Me, Bad Me by Ali Land
Whilst the premise of the book was good and gave me something to think about - how much impact does your behaviour have on your children and how damaged can your actions make them? - I found these book to be merely "okay".
Told from the perspective of Annie/Milly it has a wonderfully chatty style but I became completely irritated with some of the attempts at using teenage speech patterns; in several places throughout the book she sounds like Yoda - much of this was due to punctuation issues however and could have been fixed by a good editor (maybe they are the editor's fault in the first place - but I digress). This then served to yank me out of the story and then other things begin to strike you.
There is little to no characterisation beyond a simple one dimension for any of the other people in the book. Annie/Milly sees herself in many different lights (almost split personality in some cases) and yet Phoebe is little more than a caricature of a self-obsessed teenage girl; there is some attempt to rectify this later in the book but it feels forced and stilted and really doesn't lift the character at all. Mike is a complete doormat and the drug-addicted Foster Mother is so bland I cannot even recall her name.
The plotting is adequate but I found the attempt at drawing out suspense over the terrible crimes Annie's mother (Ruth Thompson in case you missed her one name check in the book) had committed to feel contrived, especially the cross examination of Annie in the Court Room. What saved this book, in my opinion, were Annie's internal dialogues with her mother and her constant description of her mother's memory being reptilian.
The ending felt designed to shock and serves no other purpose than that, no resolutions are reached and it left a bitter taste in the mouth. I didn't expect a happy ending but what I got was a disastrous ending that had no hope for redemption in it.
**Review originally published January 15th, 2018**
Told from the perspective of Annie/Milly it has a wonderfully chatty style but I became completely irritated with some of the attempts at using teenage speech patterns; in several places throughout the book she sounds like Yoda - much of this was due to punctuation issues however and could have been fixed by a good editor (maybe they are the editor's fault in the first place - but I digress). This then served to yank me out of the story and then other things begin to strike you.
There is little to no characterisation beyond a simple one dimension for any of the other people in the book. Annie/Milly sees herself in many different lights (almost split personality in some cases) and yet Phoebe is little more than a caricature of a self-obsessed teenage girl; there is some attempt to rectify this later in the book but it feels forced and stilted and really doesn't lift the character at all. Mike is a complete doormat and the drug-addicted Foster Mother is so bland I cannot even recall her name.
The plotting is adequate but I found the attempt at drawing out suspense over the terrible crimes Annie's mother (Ruth Thompson in case you missed her one name check in the book) had committed to feel contrived, especially the cross examination of Annie in the Court Room. What saved this book, in my opinion, were Annie's internal dialogues with her mother and her constant description of her mother's memory being reptilian.
The ending felt designed to shock and serves no other purpose than that, no resolutions are reached and it left a bitter taste in the mouth. I didn't expect a happy ending but what I got was a disastrous ending that had no hope for redemption in it.
**Review originally published January 15th, 2018**
The Things We Do For Love by Roisin Meaney
This is a wonderful tale of a group of disparate characters brought together for an adult life drawing class. Not only are we invited in to their lives as the class progresses but also one or two peripheral characters that are somehow inexorably entwined in the tale. There is no overt laying down of many of the characters but somehow you "get" them as they unfold on the page.
I'm not quite sure exactly how Ms Meaney achieves this but there is a clarity of purpose such that plot and character flow effortlessly on to the page and you feel somehow as if you are viewing the whole tale rather than reading it. There are no overtly contrived scenes to move the plot along but there are things that are glaringly obvious from the get go - like Audrey's burgeoning romance, right from the get go you know how that one will turn out.
The characters that populate the pages are a good rang of age and personality type with all of them having their own secrets, of the mainly small variety it must be said - just as flesh and blood people do and this is something that is often missed in paper and ink people.
What amazed me was how much I enjoyed a book that is, essentially, about nothing. The plot really is just everyday life and it is entirely charming and believable. The nastinesses of life are never overlooked so there are harsh things that happen (or happened in the past but have indelibly affected the character) to some of the characters but this just adds to the fullness of time and place.
If you can't tell I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am looking forward to raiding the back catalogue of this particular author.
**Review originally published January 15th, 2018**
I'm not quite sure exactly how Ms Meaney achieves this but there is a clarity of purpose such that plot and character flow effortlessly on to the page and you feel somehow as if you are viewing the whole tale rather than reading it. There are no overtly contrived scenes to move the plot along but there are things that are glaringly obvious from the get go - like Audrey's burgeoning romance, right from the get go you know how that one will turn out.
The characters that populate the pages are a good rang of age and personality type with all of them having their own secrets, of the mainly small variety it must be said - just as flesh and blood people do and this is something that is often missed in paper and ink people.
What amazed me was how much I enjoyed a book that is, essentially, about nothing. The plot really is just everyday life and it is entirely charming and believable. The nastinesses of life are never overlooked so there are harsh things that happen (or happened in the past but have indelibly affected the character) to some of the characters but this just adds to the fullness of time and place.
If you can't tell I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am looking forward to raiding the back catalogue of this particular author.
**Review originally published January 15th, 2018**
SweetFreak by Sophie McKenzie
This is very definitely a book for teenagers and it has a very strong moral - a bit like a fairy tale for the modern day. It certainly follows that basic outline with our heroine, Casey, being accused of something she just didn't do. This leads her to lose friends and to suffer bullying at school, even her mother doesn't believe her. As things escalate she runs away on a quest to prove her innocence, meeting Blue and Seti on the way who prove to be both help and hindrance. Culminating in her finding the protagonist and returning home to be forgiven and assimilated back in to the fold. Fairly standard story arc really.
The characterisation is fairly good but I did find it woefully one dimensional in some instances - the best friend Amber is one such character, she just didn't live on the page the same way Amber, her sister Poppy and brother Jamie did. Even Blue and Seti have more about them (characterisation wise) than Amber. The plotting is adequate but it is overlong in some areas and feels rushed in others. This is why it only got 3 stars from me - not because I am way older than the author's target market.
If you have a child starting Secondary School this is a very good book for them to read - it spells out the dangers of Social Media and how things can escalate extremely rapidly from friendly joking to out and out bullying. Although, these days maybe that starts even earlier but some of the scenes in the book are not suitable for younger audiences. It did leave me feeling relieved that there was no such thing as Social Media when I was at school and glad I more or less keep it at arm's length now.
**Review originally published January 10th, 2018**
The characterisation is fairly good but I did find it woefully one dimensional in some instances - the best friend Amber is one such character, she just didn't live on the page the same way Amber, her sister Poppy and brother Jamie did. Even Blue and Seti have more about them (characterisation wise) than Amber. The plotting is adequate but it is overlong in some areas and feels rushed in others. This is why it only got 3 stars from me - not because I am way older than the author's target market.
If you have a child starting Secondary School this is a very good book for them to read - it spells out the dangers of Social Media and how things can escalate extremely rapidly from friendly joking to out and out bullying. Although, these days maybe that starts even earlier but some of the scenes in the book are not suitable for younger audiences. It did leave me feeling relieved that there was no such thing as Social Media when I was at school and glad I more or less keep it at arm's length now.
**Review originally published January 10th, 2018**
Shadow Man by Alan Drew
Shadow Man is a good book with strong plotting and relatively strong characterisation. Unfortunately, it did not stand above the herd of books in this genre sufficiently to garner anything more than 3 stars from me even though I did enjoy reading it.
Our main protagonist, Ben, has moved back to his home town to get away from the violence of Los Angeles but it seems it may have followed him. Whilst Ben is busy bemoaning his marriage breaking up and the erosion of the Cowboy way of life in the canyons the Night Prowler is making his way down the Pacific Coast Highway and striking at random in quiet planned communities on it's path.
So far so good, if a little trite in places. At least Ben appears to be a troubled cop with a lowercase t rather than the more standard uppercase one. He is maintaining a relationship with his family and doesn't appear to be alcoholic (although he has flirted with it). Then he finds an illegal Mexican shot in the back of the head in a strawberry field and this leads him back into his own past (cue descent in to Troubled).
Although the themes explored are handled well and the writing has good flow and cadence it still feels all a little contrived. Too much angst from Ben about his past and his decisions start to look more and more like those of a maverick cop. We have more than a surfeit of those in this genre and it would have been nice to have a more balanced character at the helm.
The resolution of the book is not a cliched one and is paced correctly for maximum reader satisfaction. The villain of the piece is described with some amount of empathy so he is not just a stereotype from the writer's handbook - I just wasn't convinced that either Ben or the Night Prowler could have made their way up the steep canyon side in their respective conditions.
Overall this is not a bad book but neither is it a great book. It is a good book within it's genre and you won't feel cheated reading I was just, somehow, left expecting more from it.
**Review originally published January 10th, 2018**
Our main protagonist, Ben, has moved back to his home town to get away from the violence of Los Angeles but it seems it may have followed him. Whilst Ben is busy bemoaning his marriage breaking up and the erosion of the Cowboy way of life in the canyons the Night Prowler is making his way down the Pacific Coast Highway and striking at random in quiet planned communities on it's path.
So far so good, if a little trite in places. At least Ben appears to be a troubled cop with a lowercase t rather than the more standard uppercase one. He is maintaining a relationship with his family and doesn't appear to be alcoholic (although he has flirted with it). Then he finds an illegal Mexican shot in the back of the head in a strawberry field and this leads him back into his own past (cue descent in to Troubled).
Although the themes explored are handled well and the writing has good flow and cadence it still feels all a little contrived. Too much angst from Ben about his past and his decisions start to look more and more like those of a maverick cop. We have more than a surfeit of those in this genre and it would have been nice to have a more balanced character at the helm.
The resolution of the book is not a cliched one and is paced correctly for maximum reader satisfaction. The villain of the piece is described with some amount of empathy so he is not just a stereotype from the writer's handbook - I just wasn't convinced that either Ben or the Night Prowler could have made their way up the steep canyon side in their respective conditions.
Overall this is not a bad book but neither is it a great book. It is a good book within it's genre and you won't feel cheated reading I was just, somehow, left expecting more from it.
**Review originally published January 10th, 2018**
Rome's Sacred Flame by Robert Fabbri
I have not read the previous 7 books in the Vespasian series and was relieved to find that you really don't need to in order to understand this book. Neither is a knowledge of Roman History required to make sense of it, in fact I would suggest that to have such would be a detriment to the book. No disrespect to Mr Fabbri but he himself admits in the Afterword that much of the tale is just that, a tale, and should not be taken as Historical fact.
This is a story of political intrigue and war-mongering machinations set in the time of perhaps, the most infamous Roman Emperor Nero - you know the one who fiddled while Rome burned. Whilst that has been proven to be historically inaccurate there is some truth to the slur; this is taken to further extrapolation in this book and it is even weirder than you may suppose.
I am not normally a reader of this style of book, political thrillers have never really been my thing and that is very definitely what this book is. Rather than the political systems that we are used to it is set in an earlier autocracy but the rules of "combat" are the same - watch your back and look out for the main chance.
The writing is good and jogs along at a steady pace. The issue I had was the unfamiliarity of the names kept jolting me out of the tale. Not the author's fault but mine I appreciate. The plot is good if sometimes a little muddy and there is action aplenty with an almost gleeful delight in the retelling of actions which we would now think of as barbarous but which were everyday at the turn of the first millennium.
I enjoyed this book to some extent but would not hurry to read any of the previous 7 due to personal preferences. If this is a genre that you enjoy then I would urge you to pick the book up as it will give you a great deal of pleasure.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
**Review originally published January 9th, 2018**
This is a story of political intrigue and war-mongering machinations set in the time of perhaps, the most infamous Roman Emperor Nero - you know the one who fiddled while Rome burned. Whilst that has been proven to be historically inaccurate there is some truth to the slur; this is taken to further extrapolation in this book and it is even weirder than you may suppose.
I am not normally a reader of this style of book, political thrillers have never really been my thing and that is very definitely what this book is. Rather than the political systems that we are used to it is set in an earlier autocracy but the rules of "combat" are the same - watch your back and look out for the main chance.
The writing is good and jogs along at a steady pace. The issue I had was the unfamiliarity of the names kept jolting me out of the tale. Not the author's fault but mine I appreciate. The plot is good if sometimes a little muddy and there is action aplenty with an almost gleeful delight in the retelling of actions which we would now think of as barbarous but which were everyday at the turn of the first millennium.
I enjoyed this book to some extent but would not hurry to read any of the previous 7 due to personal preferences. If this is a genre that you enjoy then I would urge you to pick the book up as it will give you a great deal of pleasure.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
**Review originally published January 9th, 2018**
The Vengeance Of Legion by Helen Fields
I'm not quite sure how this book crept up on me, after being really disappointed in the first of the series I was not looking forward to reading this one but thought I should before I forgot all the ins and outs of Manitu and it's resident tribes. I have never been so glad to be proved wrong by a book.
There is little time spent trying to make Eve and her environs seem "normal" and we are plunged almost straight in to the action via the murderous Moroi, the footsoldiers of the Perelynsk. Eve spends far more time in Manitu this time around and the flowery descriptions are long gone. It is now a war torn world and the descriptions of the violence and upheaval are glittering and, in some cases exceptionally gruesome. It is here that we see the development of Ms Fields in to a thriller writer. This book has more to do with that genre than the fantasy. Strip away the fantastical beings and settings and much of it could almost be from a police procedural.
The characterisation is far stronger this time around. My only issue is with how easily Eve's friends and acquaintances take to her explaining she is not Human and is actually Vilya and that there is a whole other world running parallel to our known one. Not once does any one of them call for the men in white coats or suggest that maybe she needs to speak to someone. They all take it at face value. If there had been a little more suspension of belief from those characters I may even have marked it higher. I can forgive the rather bizarre surgical episode, even though it left me with more questions - first and foremost if Eve is a healer when in "our" world then why did she leave him stapled up and not just heal him?
Much stronger writing and although it touts a third volume I am sure that there is little to no chance of that occuring. I can full see why as there is not too much mileage from Eve and Perun's "arrangement", Zora's recovery and James' banishment. We are pretty sure that Eve will overcome Perun (most likely with his mother Mandalina's aide), repair the damage to Manitu and still manage to return to the Human World to marry James. No, I'd rather be left here to make my own dreams up about this all unfolds rather than Ms Fields misguidedly trying to complete an old series that is not a patch on her current offerings.
**Review originally published January 7th, 2018**
There is little time spent trying to make Eve and her environs seem "normal" and we are plunged almost straight in to the action via the murderous Moroi, the footsoldiers of the Perelynsk. Eve spends far more time in Manitu this time around and the flowery descriptions are long gone. It is now a war torn world and the descriptions of the violence and upheaval are glittering and, in some cases exceptionally gruesome. It is here that we see the development of Ms Fields in to a thriller writer. This book has more to do with that genre than the fantasy. Strip away the fantastical beings and settings and much of it could almost be from a police procedural.
The characterisation is far stronger this time around. My only issue is with how easily Eve's friends and acquaintances take to her explaining she is not Human and is actually Vilya and that there is a whole other world running parallel to our known one. Not once does any one of them call for the men in white coats or suggest that maybe she needs to speak to someone. They all take it at face value. If there had been a little more suspension of belief from those characters I may even have marked it higher. I can forgive the rather bizarre surgical episode, even though it left me with more questions - first and foremost if Eve is a healer when in "our" world then why did she leave him stapled up and not just heal him?
Much stronger writing and although it touts a third volume I am sure that there is little to no chance of that occuring. I can full see why as there is not too much mileage from Eve and Perun's "arrangement", Zora's recovery and James' banishment. We are pretty sure that Eve will overcome Perun (most likely with his mother Mandalina's aide), repair the damage to Manitu and still manage to return to the Human World to marry James. No, I'd rather be left here to make my own dreams up about this all unfolds rather than Ms Fields misguidedly trying to complete an old series that is not a patch on her current offerings.
**Review originally published January 7th, 2018**
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