From the first few chapters I was unsure about where this book was going and whether or not I would enjoy it. The world building is handled in an efficient manner that allows the reader to put their own stamp on it whilst giving you the bare scaffold to build upon; this is surprisingly effective and I found that it sucked me in to the place. Characters unfold on the page in a gentle manner and develop nicely as the novel moves on.
I thoroughly enjoyed this read. It is a difficult book to describe accurately and certainly one the defies clear categorisation. The overarching feeling I got from this tale was that it was an old-fashioned Western told from the female perspective. Indeed, the costumes the girls wore, the places they lived in and travelled through I imbued with that Old West feel. This was vindicated when I read the Author's acknowledgments and she listed some of the background reading she had done. Then there is a strong Fantasy element with Ravener's, Vengeant's and the myth of Lady Ghost. Throw in a coming-of-age element, a little gentle romance, a little bit of criminality and a strong dose of rebellion and it really is a mash up of genres. One that works surprisingly well.
The only thing that spoilt it for me was the way the Girl's would get in to a situation and then miraculously escape. Particularly at the end of the book it did feel a little like things were stretched too thin for believability but I still kept reading enthusiastically.
The main characters are all part of a Welcome House - the Good Luck Girl Aster and her sister Clementine, the Head Girl Violet and two Daybreakers, Tansy and Mallow. When Clementine is due to go through her Good Luck Night and become a fully fledged member of the house she kills her brag, leaving the five no option but to flee. Meeting up with the enigmatic Zee gives them a lifeline and the necessary skills to survive the Scab and it's surrounding wilderness as they try to escape to find Lady Ghost at the borders with the free state of Ferron.
Narrated by Aster the plot flows well and sucks the reader in. Dialogue is sparse but realistically executed - I love that rip (and all it's derivatives) is used as a multi-purpose curse. The six travellers all develop during their journey and learn a lot about each other but also about themselves along the way and it was a joy to follow along with them and watch them grow and blossom.
Overall, an enthralling read that not only entertains but has some good themes of personal development.
Tuesday 31 December 2019
Friday 27 December 2019
The Christmas Wish List by Heidi Swain
I am pretty sure Wynbridge exists in some weird alternate dimension where it is permanently Christmas. I know it makes the perfect setting for the festivities and the characters do reference spring and summer occasionally but it just feels like it is isolated inside a snow globe and gets packed away on Twelfth Night. They also always seem to get snow just in time for Christmas - whilst this sets a nostalgic scene it has been a long time since we have had anything more than the odd snow flurry around Christmas in the UK and this particular White Christmas trope is beginning to wear thin.
All that whining and yet I REALLY enjoyed this story. It was wonderful to step away from The Hall and the stories of the inhabitants. Yes, it does get numerous namechecks and even a couple of visits but it isn't the focus of this story. The focus is a brand new character, Hattie who has struck up a friendship with the ageing Dolly who just so happens to live in Wynbridge. When Hattie is made redundant Dolly gives her a refuge at her quaint cottage so that she can decide what her future holds - Will it be following her boyfriend Jonathan to Dubai? Will it be continuing with her career in Hospitality or should she really look into working with children?
There is quite a lot going on for Hattie and when Dolly insists that they sit down and make a Christmas Wish List to help get her in the mood for the celebrations she is reluctant. Dolly insists and it is packed full of seasonal treats - ice skating in the open air, carol singing, baking and the obligatory wearing of "ugly sweaters". Even better Dolly coerces her in to helping out at the local Primary School in the run up to Christmas and the sheer excitement and joy of the children really comes across on the page.
The book does deal really well with more sensitive topics - estrangement from your family, manipulative/abusive relationships and the loss of loved ones. There are a couple of scenes just over halfway through the book that are actually quite shocking but they feel right in the context of the story and not like they exist just to add a bit of drama or shock value. The "reveals" don't have any real shock value though as they are flagged up throughout the story but I still found myself empathising with the various characters.
I genuinely became absorbed in this story and was always sad when I had to put the book down. Yes, it is cheesy, yes you can see what is going to happen from a mile off. Somehow that is all the more comforting and makes the book feel like a big, warm cuddle. After being disappointed with the last couple of Wynbridge books where it felt very much like a contractual obligation The Christmas Wish List was a breath of fresh, snow-laden air.
All that whining and yet I REALLY enjoyed this story. It was wonderful to step away from The Hall and the stories of the inhabitants. Yes, it does get numerous namechecks and even a couple of visits but it isn't the focus of this story. The focus is a brand new character, Hattie who has struck up a friendship with the ageing Dolly who just so happens to live in Wynbridge. When Hattie is made redundant Dolly gives her a refuge at her quaint cottage so that she can decide what her future holds - Will it be following her boyfriend Jonathan to Dubai? Will it be continuing with her career in Hospitality or should she really look into working with children?
There is quite a lot going on for Hattie and when Dolly insists that they sit down and make a Christmas Wish List to help get her in the mood for the celebrations she is reluctant. Dolly insists and it is packed full of seasonal treats - ice skating in the open air, carol singing, baking and the obligatory wearing of "ugly sweaters". Even better Dolly coerces her in to helping out at the local Primary School in the run up to Christmas and the sheer excitement and joy of the children really comes across on the page.
The book does deal really well with more sensitive topics - estrangement from your family, manipulative/abusive relationships and the loss of loved ones. There are a couple of scenes just over halfway through the book that are actually quite shocking but they feel right in the context of the story and not like they exist just to add a bit of drama or shock value. The "reveals" don't have any real shock value though as they are flagged up throughout the story but I still found myself empathising with the various characters.
I genuinely became absorbed in this story and was always sad when I had to put the book down. Yes, it is cheesy, yes you can see what is going to happen from a mile off. Somehow that is all the more comforting and makes the book feel like a big, warm cuddle. After being disappointed with the last couple of Wynbridge books where it felt very much like a contractual obligation The Christmas Wish List was a breath of fresh, snow-laden air.
Into The Crooked Place by Alexandra Christo
I was really disappointed in this novel. It just never really clicked in to place for me. The Realms and the peoples that populate them never really came alive on the page and I was constantly aware of reading rather than being absorbed in the tale. Because I read this on an eReader you can see your progress which can be tortuous when you aren't enjoying something because you can see exactly how far to go there is before you finish it and, unfortunately, I did spend a great deal of time looking at the percentage of the book read and sighing at how much was still to go.
The build up is excrutiatingly slow. The first 30% of the book is spent world building and introducing us to our protagonists Tavia, Saxony, Karam and Wesley. By the time they start on their quest to bring down Ashwood I had genuinely stopped caring. I much prefer "show don't tell" storytelling and for some reason I felt like I was being told (in minute detail) about every nuance of their intertwined relationships with both each other and their environment. Strangely, the world building element never really gives you a sense of what the various Realms actually look like so the characters are moving through a landscape that is ephemeral and seems to consist largely of towns with rather Victorian sounding cobbled streets or forests.
There are a couple of good set pieces - the Courtesan's House and Ashwood's Castle - where action takes the forefront. Even then, there is the tendency to meander off the point and stretch the action out for far more pages than is necessary to tell the story. Primarily this is achieved by showing each scene from each of the 4 main character's viewpoint - by the time you get around to reading the fourth viewpoint you have had enough and are more than ready to move on and all tension has dissipated.
Even worse a fifth character gets introduced about 60% of the way through, Arjun. Even once he has been identified as one of the Leaders by the Phantoms he is still a shadowy figure in the story and we never get to find out much about him. He just pops up now and then to add some magical fire power. He is also very much a fifth wheel as there are underlying romantic undercurrents between Wesley and Tavia and Karam and Saxony (I did heartily approve of the LBTQ+ relationship).
The reveal of the source of the voice in Wesley's head came as no surprise. The only surprise was that when he went through the Regret Trial and it was witnessed by the others nobody recognised the source (I'm trying hard not to give it away as this is supposed to be a twist). The book leaves us on a "cliffhanger" for the future of the intrepid 5 but I have no desire to see how things work out for them - all I want to know is will Karam and Saxony finally get it together and if my suspicion as to the true identity of Wesley (of course Blood Magic was used to hide him in plain sight - honestly, this again) which, if I'm right, makes the whole Tavia thing rather unsettling.
On the whole I found this overlong and boring. What it needed was a lot of red pencil and strong editing to pare everything back.
The build up is excrutiatingly slow. The first 30% of the book is spent world building and introducing us to our protagonists Tavia, Saxony, Karam and Wesley. By the time they start on their quest to bring down Ashwood I had genuinely stopped caring. I much prefer "show don't tell" storytelling and for some reason I felt like I was being told (in minute detail) about every nuance of their intertwined relationships with both each other and their environment. Strangely, the world building element never really gives you a sense of what the various Realms actually look like so the characters are moving through a landscape that is ephemeral and seems to consist largely of towns with rather Victorian sounding cobbled streets or forests.
There are a couple of good set pieces - the Courtesan's House and Ashwood's Castle - where action takes the forefront. Even then, there is the tendency to meander off the point and stretch the action out for far more pages than is necessary to tell the story. Primarily this is achieved by showing each scene from each of the 4 main character's viewpoint - by the time you get around to reading the fourth viewpoint you have had enough and are more than ready to move on and all tension has dissipated.
Even worse a fifth character gets introduced about 60% of the way through, Arjun. Even once he has been identified as one of the Leaders by the Phantoms he is still a shadowy figure in the story and we never get to find out much about him. He just pops up now and then to add some magical fire power. He is also very much a fifth wheel as there are underlying romantic undercurrents between Wesley and Tavia and Karam and Saxony (I did heartily approve of the LBTQ+ relationship).
The reveal of the source of the voice in Wesley's head came as no surprise. The only surprise was that when he went through the Regret Trial and it was witnessed by the others nobody recognised the source (I'm trying hard not to give it away as this is supposed to be a twist). The book leaves us on a "cliffhanger" for the future of the intrepid 5 but I have no desire to see how things work out for them - all I want to know is will Karam and Saxony finally get it together and if my suspicion as to the true identity of Wesley (of course Blood Magic was used to hide him in plain sight - honestly, this again) which, if I'm right, makes the whole Tavia thing rather unsettling.
On the whole I found this overlong and boring. What it needed was a lot of red pencil and strong editing to pare everything back.
Tuesday 24 December 2019
Christmas at Wynter House by Emily Harvale
3.5 Stars
Cosy festive read that has no real surprises buried within it's pages. From the moment Neva arrives in Wyntersleap to spend Christmas at the remote village with her family you know how it is going to end up. So much so the whole Wynter brothers triangle actually served to annoy me - it was clear from the moment she met both Adam and Rafe which way this was going to go. I found myself more interested in the dynamics between Neva and her family (parents Dawn and Dennis and her sister Rowan, her husband Nigel and their fantastic daughter Sasha) than in the romantic aspects of the story. Sasha was definitely the star of the book for me and an 8 year old that I found startlingly familiar - I was all about the Horror at that age, still am to some extent.
The village may be small but it is packed with quirky characters - although I did find it odd that with so few cottages a pub and a general store managed to survive, definitely a fictional moment. It was a refreshing change that not all the characters were "nice" as this tends to be a pitfall of this genre. Although, even the "nasty" ones turn out to just be a little bit misunderstood.
A good pick up and put down read that will entertain in between all the shopping, cooking and wrapping.
This was my first Emily Harvale novel and it was a decent enough read. I note that she has a reasonably sized back catalogue so I may plunder that on my next book buying splurge.
Cosy festive read that has no real surprises buried within it's pages. From the moment Neva arrives in Wyntersleap to spend Christmas at the remote village with her family you know how it is going to end up. So much so the whole Wynter brothers triangle actually served to annoy me - it was clear from the moment she met both Adam and Rafe which way this was going to go. I found myself more interested in the dynamics between Neva and her family (parents Dawn and Dennis and her sister Rowan, her husband Nigel and their fantastic daughter Sasha) than in the romantic aspects of the story. Sasha was definitely the star of the book for me and an 8 year old that I found startlingly familiar - I was all about the Horror at that age, still am to some extent.
The village may be small but it is packed with quirky characters - although I did find it odd that with so few cottages a pub and a general store managed to survive, definitely a fictional moment. It was a refreshing change that not all the characters were "nice" as this tends to be a pitfall of this genre. Although, even the "nasty" ones turn out to just be a little bit misunderstood.
A good pick up and put down read that will entertain in between all the shopping, cooking and wrapping.
This was my first Emily Harvale novel and it was a decent enough read. I note that she has a reasonably sized back catalogue so I may plunder that on my next book buying splurge.
Saturday 21 December 2019
Miracle On Regent Street by Ali Harris
Evie is almost invisible, in fact most of her colleagues call her by the previous Stockroom Girl's name. In her self-imposed uniform of black trousers and white shirt she mans the Stockroom at failing family Department Store Hardy's. It's not exactly a busy place and once she had the shelves sorted to her satisfaction the highlight of her week is the Delivery Guy Sam - although, what he is delivering who knows as there is still pre-war stock sitting in the dank little room. When she discovers that an American chain, Rumours, is looking at buying the property and turning it in to a super fashion-forward, high tech store she is appalled and sets out to save this charming old store. Ably assisted by the background staff that no-one really notices - Felix the aged security guard, the team of Polish cleaners, Sam and the inimitable Lily from the basement cafe - Santa's Elves get cracking on transforming the store to it's old fashioned glory.
There are a lot of things that I could pick at about this novel as they just make no sense. However, the whole is so charming I decided to let go of things like putting 1950's cosmetics on sale. Ali Harris really brings Hardy's to life on the page and you can almost smell the dusty air and hear the hush of the customer free departments slowly coming back to life. It is a huge heap of nostalgia and full of New Look type Glamour (and believe me it needs that capital letter).
Alongside the tale of trying to rescue the store there is Evie's private life. Having had a disastrous relationship that ended 2 years ago she is still living with her high-flying sister, Delilah and her "something in the City" husband Will. All that changes as she meets the dashing Jacob in the store and she starts to dream of more than just baby-sitting and working. Although, Evie does have an unrealistic expectation of adult relationships and it is all her parent's fault - after all their's is the fairytale she aspires to and also the reason she loves Hardy's so much.
I really loved this book and particularly enjoyed every second in the store. From finding out snippets about the people running those departments to dealing with the rather ghastly Carly. The descriptions of the displays Evie creates solo and then with the help of her team of Elves are vibrant and it kind of reminded me of the film Mannequin with a 1950's twist.
A genuinely good fun, feel good book that is perfect for the season.
There are a lot of things that I could pick at about this novel as they just make no sense. However, the whole is so charming I decided to let go of things like putting 1950's cosmetics on sale. Ali Harris really brings Hardy's to life on the page and you can almost smell the dusty air and hear the hush of the customer free departments slowly coming back to life. It is a huge heap of nostalgia and full of New Look type Glamour (and believe me it needs that capital letter).
Alongside the tale of trying to rescue the store there is Evie's private life. Having had a disastrous relationship that ended 2 years ago she is still living with her high-flying sister, Delilah and her "something in the City" husband Will. All that changes as she meets the dashing Jacob in the store and she starts to dream of more than just baby-sitting and working. Although, Evie does have an unrealistic expectation of adult relationships and it is all her parent's fault - after all their's is the fairytale she aspires to and also the reason she loves Hardy's so much.
I really loved this book and particularly enjoyed every second in the store. From finding out snippets about the people running those departments to dealing with the rather ghastly Carly. The descriptions of the displays Evie creates solo and then with the help of her team of Elves are vibrant and it kind of reminded me of the film Mannequin with a 1950's twist.
A genuinely good fun, feel good book that is perfect for the season.
Friday 20 December 2019
How To Play Dead by Jacqueline Ward
3.5 Stars
I found that I enjoyed this book less and less as it went on. Initially it was engrossing and absorbing and I was thoroughly enjoying it. Unfortunately, it becomes incredibly repetitious and I was left feeling like there were a good 100 pages of filler thrown in that were no doubt meant to underline the dichotomy between Ria's professional life and her personal life but which left me wanting the author to just get on with it already.
The idea is a good one and the novel definitely deals with the topic of domestic abuse in a strong way. However, I felt like it only paid lip service to the terror felt by the victims and that they were there only as a platform to showcase how incredible Ria is. As we learn more about her past I hate to admit it but I did find myself thinking "yes, and..." Whilst her experience was no doubt traumatic and would have had a lasting and indelible effect on who she became as an adult it did mean that the "power" of her position now became somewhat undermined as she seemed to equate that experience with the years of terror that her clients have been subjected too, especially Sheila.
The insertion of Tanya's story was a good foil for the work Safe Me does but the true identity of Tanya was not a surprise and from the first time she speaks up, via her diary entries, the reader knows she is intimately connected to Ria. That sort of spoils the reveal around halfway through and also reveals who the stalker is and why it is happening now so many years down the line. I was also disappointed that the debt aspect became glossed over as that just doesn't go away but continues to impact your life long after you have managed to claw your way out of it.
Taken as a whole it is a strong story and there is a decent amount of tension built up - mainly via Jim's intimidation of Sally and the staff. Overall, it was a reasonable enough thriller but it did leave me feeling oddly unsatisfied with the ending and the conclusions that the author invites you to draw felt somehow like cracks were being wallpapered over.
As you can see from the rating I have given the book it wasn't a disaster, indeed I perceived it as slightly better than average on completion. In retrospect I think I have been over generous and a solid 3 would have been fairer.
I found that I enjoyed this book less and less as it went on. Initially it was engrossing and absorbing and I was thoroughly enjoying it. Unfortunately, it becomes incredibly repetitious and I was left feeling like there were a good 100 pages of filler thrown in that were no doubt meant to underline the dichotomy between Ria's professional life and her personal life but which left me wanting the author to just get on with it already.
The idea is a good one and the novel definitely deals with the topic of domestic abuse in a strong way. However, I felt like it only paid lip service to the terror felt by the victims and that they were there only as a platform to showcase how incredible Ria is. As we learn more about her past I hate to admit it but I did find myself thinking "yes, and..." Whilst her experience was no doubt traumatic and would have had a lasting and indelible effect on who she became as an adult it did mean that the "power" of her position now became somewhat undermined as she seemed to equate that experience with the years of terror that her clients have been subjected too, especially Sheila.
The insertion of Tanya's story was a good foil for the work Safe Me does but the true identity of Tanya was not a surprise and from the first time she speaks up, via her diary entries, the reader knows she is intimately connected to Ria. That sort of spoils the reveal around halfway through and also reveals who the stalker is and why it is happening now so many years down the line. I was also disappointed that the debt aspect became glossed over as that just doesn't go away but continues to impact your life long after you have managed to claw your way out of it.
Taken as a whole it is a strong story and there is a decent amount of tension built up - mainly via Jim's intimidation of Sally and the staff. Overall, it was a reasonable enough thriller but it did leave me feeling oddly unsatisfied with the ending and the conclusions that the author invites you to draw felt somehow like cracks were being wallpapered over.
As you can see from the rating I have given the book it wasn't a disaster, indeed I perceived it as slightly better than average on completion. In retrospect I think I have been over generous and a solid 3 would have been fairer.
Thursday 19 December 2019
The Gift Of Happiness by Holly Martin
At the risk of damning with faint praise this book was simply okay. It ticks the festive boxes but I found the characters and their situations either wildly unrealistic, impossibly twee or an annoying combination of both. It became clear early on in the book that this tale picks up from an earlier story set in this strange place called Happiness. As this story deals with characters that seem to have been more or less peripheral previously this isn't really a detriment to enjoying this book.
One of the highlights for me was the replacing of Jesus in the Nativity with a snowman toy and then the taking of photos of Jesus in various outfits around the village. There was a genuine sense of fun around it and it gave a much needed depth to the character of Ruby. To be honest if it wasn't for that she would have just come across as fairly man hungry whilst avoiding commitment.
The author also makes an attempt at more raunchy scenes. Sadly, these really don't work and read like an advert for the condom industry so often are they mentioned. They are also more cringe than anything but are mercifully short. Although, anytime Ruby and Jacob find themselves alone together I did wince in anticipation of their inability to keep their hands off each other - fortunately they do seem to be able to exercise a little restraint and can be alone without embarrassing themselves. It also all felt vaguely incestuous with relationships between Ruby's best friend Willow and Jacob's brother, Jacob's sister and a mystery man who turns out to have a link to Ruby. Are there really so few options for these fictional people?
I also had major issues with the set up of the village of Happiness; it just doesn't have any grounding in reality and the disparate bunch of characters that seem to live there are like no others found anywhere. Just all around peculiar in quite an unsettling way.
The festive sentiments go some way to salvaging the novel and the wonderful range of events that Ruby dreams up for the village to take part in are a great idea. I particularly loved the Angel sculpture idea and it wasn't something I had come across before.
On the whole this just scraped a 3 Star and if it hadn't been for the wonderful sense of seasonal warmth and bonhomie that exudes out of the pages this would have been lucky to get a 2.
One of the highlights for me was the replacing of Jesus in the Nativity with a snowman toy and then the taking of photos of Jesus in various outfits around the village. There was a genuine sense of fun around it and it gave a much needed depth to the character of Ruby. To be honest if it wasn't for that she would have just come across as fairly man hungry whilst avoiding commitment.
The author also makes an attempt at more raunchy scenes. Sadly, these really don't work and read like an advert for the condom industry so often are they mentioned. They are also more cringe than anything but are mercifully short. Although, anytime Ruby and Jacob find themselves alone together I did wince in anticipation of their inability to keep their hands off each other - fortunately they do seem to be able to exercise a little restraint and can be alone without embarrassing themselves. It also all felt vaguely incestuous with relationships between Ruby's best friend Willow and Jacob's brother, Jacob's sister and a mystery man who turns out to have a link to Ruby. Are there really so few options for these fictional people?
I also had major issues with the set up of the village of Happiness; it just doesn't have any grounding in reality and the disparate bunch of characters that seem to live there are like no others found anywhere. Just all around peculiar in quite an unsettling way.
The festive sentiments go some way to salvaging the novel and the wonderful range of events that Ruby dreams up for the village to take part in are a great idea. I particularly loved the Angel sculpture idea and it wasn't something I had come across before.
On the whole this just scraped a 3 Star and if it hadn't been for the wonderful sense of seasonal warmth and bonhomie that exudes out of the pages this would have been lucky to get a 2.
The Christmas Invitation by Trisha Ashley
I normally adore Trisha Ashley's novels but there was something missing in this one and I can't quite put my finger on what. On the surface of things it has everything her other books have:
Feisty and creative heroine with a disastrous long term relationship behind her.
Wonderful rural North of England setting.
Quirky older characters that go on to have an important role in the Heroine's life.
Interspersing story chapters with diary/magazine/book extracts relevant to the central character in some way.
Rough around the edges Love Interest that the Heroine has a "past" with.
Yup, it's all there but something misses the mark with this story. It certainly isn't down to the marvellously named Clara Mayhem-Doome and maybe therein lies the problem. Clara is such a fun and intriguing character that I think I actively resented Meg taking over the story when all I really wanted was to spend time with Clara. She is such a bulldozer of a woman but one I think we would all like to know. Next to her Meg feels insipid and never really manages to shine in her own right.
I also didn't like the back story between her and Lex, it was all so contrived and I found it hard to believe that the mythology of what happened that fateful ever got started. Then throw in the mystery of Meg's mother and the ensuing revelation of her ignominious beginnings that tied, quite unbelievably, to the Doomes and it all began to feel a little like two reasonably good ideas for a novel stitched together to make a moderately successful story.
So, why give it four stars if that's how I feel? Simply, it is the warmth and the humour that lifts the story. Trisha Ashley knows how to write and how to engage her reader and this book exemplifies that. I may not have taken to the main character, I may have found the plot ludicrous but I still didn't want to put the book down!
Just as an aside, shortly after I started this novel my husband was hospitalised with pneumonia - exactly what Meg was suffering from. At one point Meg states that the illness is not bacterial and is always viral. Sorry, pneumonia can be bacterial, viral or fungal. It is better to get the bacterial version as antibiotics are a boon and certainly helped my husband recover enough to be sent home after 5 days in hospital rather than the weeks and weeks Meg spent hospitalised. However, this leads me to also moan about how rapid her recovery on discharge from hospital is, not only is she standing for hours on end to paint but she is going on lengthy country side walks. Trust me this thing takes your legs from under you and the other half finds even simple tasks exhausting. As you can tell this irritated me no end but I have not let it colour my judgement of the novel itself.
Feisty and creative heroine with a disastrous long term relationship behind her.
Wonderful rural North of England setting.
Quirky older characters that go on to have an important role in the Heroine's life.
Interspersing story chapters with diary/magazine/book extracts relevant to the central character in some way.
Rough around the edges Love Interest that the Heroine has a "past" with.
Yup, it's all there but something misses the mark with this story. It certainly isn't down to the marvellously named Clara Mayhem-Doome and maybe therein lies the problem. Clara is such a fun and intriguing character that I think I actively resented Meg taking over the story when all I really wanted was to spend time with Clara. She is such a bulldozer of a woman but one I think we would all like to know. Next to her Meg feels insipid and never really manages to shine in her own right.
I also didn't like the back story between her and Lex, it was all so contrived and I found it hard to believe that the mythology of what happened that fateful ever got started. Then throw in the mystery of Meg's mother and the ensuing revelation of her ignominious beginnings that tied, quite unbelievably, to the Doomes and it all began to feel a little like two reasonably good ideas for a novel stitched together to make a moderately successful story.
So, why give it four stars if that's how I feel? Simply, it is the warmth and the humour that lifts the story. Trisha Ashley knows how to write and how to engage her reader and this book exemplifies that. I may not have taken to the main character, I may have found the plot ludicrous but I still didn't want to put the book down!
Just as an aside, shortly after I started this novel my husband was hospitalised with pneumonia - exactly what Meg was suffering from. At one point Meg states that the illness is not bacterial and is always viral. Sorry, pneumonia can be bacterial, viral or fungal. It is better to get the bacterial version as antibiotics are a boon and certainly helped my husband recover enough to be sent home after 5 days in hospital rather than the weeks and weeks Meg spent hospitalised. However, this leads me to also moan about how rapid her recovery on discharge from hospital is, not only is she standing for hours on end to paint but she is going on lengthy country side walks. Trust me this thing takes your legs from under you and the other half finds even simple tasks exhausting. As you can tell this irritated me no end but I have not let it colour my judgement of the novel itself.
Big Girl, Small Town by Michelle Gallen
Majella O'Brien lives with the shadow of "The Troubles" on a daily basis. Living in a border town means that even after the Good Friday Agreement there is still a simmering undercurrent of tension between the Loyalists and the Unionists in Northern Ireland and from what little we glean of Majella's earlier life it seems her father and his family and wider range of acquaintances were intimately involved in the Unionist cause. Throw in the fact that Aghybogey still has clear separation between faiths, so much so they live on opposite sides of the bridge, and this novel feels set in a Northern Ireland more akin to the 1970s than the 2010s.
Entirely narrated by Majella, this is her story of life in a small town where family are disappointments and the options for a slightly peculiar female are very limited. As described by the jacket blurb the main thing Majella doesn't know is that she is Autistic. However, this reader isn't sure that she really is, or, if so she is only mildly on the Spectrum. Majella is naive but this can easily be put down to her cloistered upbringing. She is emotionally stunted, but so are a lot of people. She has tics and self-soothing actions that seem out of place. When you stop to think about her upbringing it seems that the self-soothing is the only comfort she got as her parents seem to have been too wrapped up in their own lives to provide a child with much in the way of comfort. I think it just annoyed me that the Autistic label was bandied so freely by the publishers when it seems that all Majella's "problems" are merely coping mechanisms and products of her cold upbringing. Okay, I'll tuck my soapbox away now.
I sort of enjoyed this book but I also found myself reading it in fits and starts as I found myself becoming bored with the story. Majella's voice just didn't hold my attention for prolonged periods. It also doesn't help that it starts and finishes with no real "point", just a snapshot from a damaged life that has a glimpse of a brighter future. A brighter future that came at a terrible cost to her paternal Grandmother.
The writing is strong and the author has developed a clear voice for Majella, an astonishingly honest voice at that. Unfortunately, it just didn't engross me in the tale and I was constantly being reminded that I was reading rather than being there - admittedly, parts are so well executed you feel like you are reading someone's diary but then it loses it's grip and you are back to feeling "oh, yeah it's this quirky book".
There is humour in the book but this can tend to the coarse side - no real surprise when you consider Majella works in the local Chippery and deals with the inebriated on a nightly basis. It also illuminates the routines we all fall into - ordering the same takeout meal, having the same banter, doing the same things every day in an almost ritualistic way.
I can see that some people will absolutely rave about this book and I can understand why they would. It just wasn't my cup of Spar Value Coffee.
THANK YOU TO THE PUBLISHERS FOR AN ARC OF THIS NOVEL IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
Entirely narrated by Majella, this is her story of life in a small town where family are disappointments and the options for a slightly peculiar female are very limited. As described by the jacket blurb the main thing Majella doesn't know is that she is Autistic. However, this reader isn't sure that she really is, or, if so she is only mildly on the Spectrum. Majella is naive but this can easily be put down to her cloistered upbringing. She is emotionally stunted, but so are a lot of people. She has tics and self-soothing actions that seem out of place. When you stop to think about her upbringing it seems that the self-soothing is the only comfort she got as her parents seem to have been too wrapped up in their own lives to provide a child with much in the way of comfort. I think it just annoyed me that the Autistic label was bandied so freely by the publishers when it seems that all Majella's "problems" are merely coping mechanisms and products of her cold upbringing. Okay, I'll tuck my soapbox away now.
I sort of enjoyed this book but I also found myself reading it in fits and starts as I found myself becoming bored with the story. Majella's voice just didn't hold my attention for prolonged periods. It also doesn't help that it starts and finishes with no real "point", just a snapshot from a damaged life that has a glimpse of a brighter future. A brighter future that came at a terrible cost to her paternal Grandmother.
The writing is strong and the author has developed a clear voice for Majella, an astonishingly honest voice at that. Unfortunately, it just didn't engross me in the tale and I was constantly being reminded that I was reading rather than being there - admittedly, parts are so well executed you feel like you are reading someone's diary but then it loses it's grip and you are back to feeling "oh, yeah it's this quirky book".
There is humour in the book but this can tend to the coarse side - no real surprise when you consider Majella works in the local Chippery and deals with the inebriated on a nightly basis. It also illuminates the routines we all fall into - ordering the same takeout meal, having the same banter, doing the same things every day in an almost ritualistic way.
I can see that some people will absolutely rave about this book and I can understand why they would. It just wasn't my cup of Spar Value Coffee.
THANK YOU TO THE PUBLISHERS FOR AN ARC OF THIS NOVEL IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
The Little Shop On Silver Linings Street by Emma Davies
First things first, as soon as you find out about the rather twisted competition Bea has set for her three sons you know what the outcome will be. Seeing as the whole book sort of revolves around the premise of Lawrence, Bertie and Kit getting to know Daisy so they can choose the perfect jewellery for her it is a little bit of a disappointment that the outcome is not more hidden. Unfortunately from the moment Bea announces it the reader knows how things will shake out and you are just hopeful that the ride to get there is worth the investment of your time.
The good news is that, on the whole, it is well worth the time spent getting to Bea's decision. Yes, Daisy can be exceptionally infuriating at times and the author's explanation for why she is the way she is just feels half-hearted and poorly thought through. Much of Daisy's character relies on her "quirks" and these often serve to mask her real personality so she does come across as quite flat in sections of the book and as simply annoying in others. I also found her constant lack of self-confidence vaguely irritating, not that the character had these crises of confidence but more the repetition of the author reminding us.
The three very different "dates" that the brother's set up for Daisy are fun to read about and I did almost feel as though I was there with her. This was particularly true with Bertie's choice and even Lawrence's; Kit's less so as it felt slightly too removed from reality. I also found myself feeling slightly sorry for Lawrence as he is more or less demonised throughout the book, although it does give the reader the opportunity for a good old fashioned seasonal Boo, Hiss!
I was surprised to realise that this is set in a fictional world that the author has taken us to before - I presume the previous book details Flora and Ned's journey. However, a prior knowledge of this little fictional world and it's characters really isn't necessary as it is enjoyable as a stand alone book.
In fact, this is the perfect accompaniment to a cold winter's night, a roaring fire and some crumbly mince pies.
The good news is that, on the whole, it is well worth the time spent getting to Bea's decision. Yes, Daisy can be exceptionally infuriating at times and the author's explanation for why she is the way she is just feels half-hearted and poorly thought through. Much of Daisy's character relies on her "quirks" and these often serve to mask her real personality so she does come across as quite flat in sections of the book and as simply annoying in others. I also found her constant lack of self-confidence vaguely irritating, not that the character had these crises of confidence but more the repetition of the author reminding us.
The three very different "dates" that the brother's set up for Daisy are fun to read about and I did almost feel as though I was there with her. This was particularly true with Bertie's choice and even Lawrence's; Kit's less so as it felt slightly too removed from reality. I also found myself feeling slightly sorry for Lawrence as he is more or less demonised throughout the book, although it does give the reader the opportunity for a good old fashioned seasonal Boo, Hiss!
I was surprised to realise that this is set in a fictional world that the author has taken us to before - I presume the previous book details Flora and Ned's journey. However, a prior knowledge of this little fictional world and it's characters really isn't necessary as it is enjoyable as a stand alone book.
In fact, this is the perfect accompaniment to a cold winter's night, a roaring fire and some crumbly mince pies.
A Perfect Cornish Christmas by Phillipa Ashley
3.5 Stars
I didn't really read the blurb for this book so when I started reading and found it was set in Porthmellow Harbour I was actually really pleased to be in a familiar setting. However, it is only really a back drop to the story with a host of new characters and the odd name drop cameo of the characters from A Perfect Cornish Summer. Bit disappointing really as I would have loved to catch up with Sam and Chloe.
The other disappointment in the book is that, for this reader, it tries to do too much. Instead of settling on two or three main themes throughout, it all gets a bit muddled and jumbled up whilst trying to cover everything. So much so, I found myself losing interest in the central story of the fall out from what should have been a fun present the previous Christmas that turned the whole family inside out. The author does do a good job of showing family dynamics and how each individual reacts to the revelation that Scarlett is not her father's biological daughter, but the whole push to discover the circumstances regarding her birth do become a little tedious after a while. This is not helped by all the other side plots that are brewing.
The Christmas Festival does sound wonderful and I almost found myself wanting to go - even if the torch parade did make me think of the Shetland New Year celebrations. The whole setting does come alive in this book and at least the tide does come in occasionally at Porthmellow, although I don't think it is the time of year to be taking the plunge in to it's wild waters.
There are some nice romantic flourishes throughout the book for Scarlett, her sister Ellie and even their mother. Ms. Ashley does a good job of making these heartwarming and touching whilst just about avoiding the schmaltz that it is easy to slip in to at this time of year. Although, I will admit I was far more interested in Ellie's potential romance than in Scarlett's.
A nice, easy festive read that brings plenty of cheer.
I didn't really read the blurb for this book so when I started reading and found it was set in Porthmellow Harbour I was actually really pleased to be in a familiar setting. However, it is only really a back drop to the story with a host of new characters and the odd name drop cameo of the characters from A Perfect Cornish Summer. Bit disappointing really as I would have loved to catch up with Sam and Chloe.
The other disappointment in the book is that, for this reader, it tries to do too much. Instead of settling on two or three main themes throughout, it all gets a bit muddled and jumbled up whilst trying to cover everything. So much so, I found myself losing interest in the central story of the fall out from what should have been a fun present the previous Christmas that turned the whole family inside out. The author does do a good job of showing family dynamics and how each individual reacts to the revelation that Scarlett is not her father's biological daughter, but the whole push to discover the circumstances regarding her birth do become a little tedious after a while. This is not helped by all the other side plots that are brewing.
The Christmas Festival does sound wonderful and I almost found myself wanting to go - even if the torch parade did make me think of the Shetland New Year celebrations. The whole setting does come alive in this book and at least the tide does come in occasionally at Porthmellow, although I don't think it is the time of year to be taking the plunge in to it's wild waters.
There are some nice romantic flourishes throughout the book for Scarlett, her sister Ellie and even their mother. Ms. Ashley does a good job of making these heartwarming and touching whilst just about avoiding the schmaltz that it is easy to slip in to at this time of year. Although, I will admit I was far more interested in Ellie's potential romance than in Scarlett's.
A nice, easy festive read that brings plenty of cheer.
Christmas At The Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan
My first festive read of the year and it certainly ticked all the festive boxes. Lots of twinkly lights and frosty mornings, even a dramatic storm or two on the coast. Throw in some dramatic set pieces for Polly and Kerensa and this should have been a delicious start to the festive season. Should have been but fell slightly wide of the mark.
Maybe it is because I am new to these characters and have not got to know them through the earlier Mount Polbearn books. Maybe it is because I am beginning to grow weary of Cornwall as a setting - it really does feel like every other book is set there over the last couple of years. Maybe it is because the most entertaining and relatable character is a bizarrely named anthropomorphised puffin.
Despite having given this three stars when I finished reading the book a couple of weeks ago I am now beginning to wonder why I rated it so "highly". In retrospect all I can remember of the storyline is the ridiculous and contrived situations that Kerensa and Polly get themselves in to; the horrendous Reuben character that I am sure people only tolerate because he is not shy in sharing his ridiculous amounts of wealth and the doormat that is Huckle (honestly, where do these names come from?)
I usually enjoy Ms Colgan's novels but this one did leave a sour taste in my mouth and has made me wonder whether or not to continue exploring her back and future catalogue. There was enough festive fun to keep me entertained and I obviously enjoyed enough of the book to give it 3 stars, I'm just wondering why as I think back to the story and all I can remember are things that irritated me. Definitely not the author's finest.
Maybe it is because I am new to these characters and have not got to know them through the earlier Mount Polbearn books. Maybe it is because I am beginning to grow weary of Cornwall as a setting - it really does feel like every other book is set there over the last couple of years. Maybe it is because the most entertaining and relatable character is a bizarrely named anthropomorphised puffin.
Despite having given this three stars when I finished reading the book a couple of weeks ago I am now beginning to wonder why I rated it so "highly". In retrospect all I can remember of the storyline is the ridiculous and contrived situations that Kerensa and Polly get themselves in to; the horrendous Reuben character that I am sure people only tolerate because he is not shy in sharing his ridiculous amounts of wealth and the doormat that is Huckle (honestly, where do these names come from?)
I usually enjoy Ms Colgan's novels but this one did leave a sour taste in my mouth and has made me wonder whether or not to continue exploring her back and future catalogue. There was enough festive fun to keep me entertained and I obviously enjoyed enough of the book to give it 3 stars, I'm just wondering why as I think back to the story and all I can remember are things that irritated me. Definitely not the author's finest.
Wilde Women by Louise Pentland
3.5 Stars
I was really looking forward to settling down with a good brew and this book to see how things shake out for Robin after the events of the second book. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to the promise of the second novel but it was still a pretty good read. It just has issues with repetition, particularly with Robin's inner monologue - we get it. Robin is struggling to blend all the disparate parts of her life together and there are only so many times I can read the same dilemma phrased slightly differently before my mind wanders off in boredom.
I also found the networking group exceedingly cringe making. From the naff name; Women Who Win, seriously? To the whole exclusively female aspect it just felt divisive and endlessly uncomfortable with the dodgy business "advice" to the supposed support network that was established early on that didn't really have any bearing on other characters and only served as a foil to show more of Robin's angst.
This novel really is all about Robin with the inimitable Aunty Kath relegated to very much a supporting role and even though the reader figures out what is going on with her far earlier than Robin does the resolution is exceedingly rushed and the repercussions are not explored at all, never mind adequately - this could have easily been the entire last quarter of the book instead of the rushed handful of pages that are devoted to it. There is also only a passing reference to other characters that were so important in the first two books; all so we can spend more time listening to Robin moan about her rather enviable situation.
On the up side there is some decent situational humour and getting to see Robin lose her ever-loving mind at the film company meeting was satisfying. What little we get of interactions between Robin and the other characters has a good level of believability and the dialogue is realistic. All plus points.
Unfortunately, she is so wrapped up in her own little slice of the world she is neglectful of her friends and how her boyfriend is still hanging on for her I do not know as she constantly sidelines him, particularly when she decamps herself, her daughter, Aunty Kath and her best friend with baby to New York. For me Robin just doesn't work as a sympathetic character in this book; she came across as completely self-absorbed and unable to see anyone else's point of view or position.
I did enjoy it but in a kind of car crash, rubber necking way.
Better than the first in the series but not as good as the second book.
I was really looking forward to settling down with a good brew and this book to see how things shake out for Robin after the events of the second book. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to the promise of the second novel but it was still a pretty good read. It just has issues with repetition, particularly with Robin's inner monologue - we get it. Robin is struggling to blend all the disparate parts of her life together and there are only so many times I can read the same dilemma phrased slightly differently before my mind wanders off in boredom.
I also found the networking group exceedingly cringe making. From the naff name; Women Who Win, seriously? To the whole exclusively female aspect it just felt divisive and endlessly uncomfortable with the dodgy business "advice" to the supposed support network that was established early on that didn't really have any bearing on other characters and only served as a foil to show more of Robin's angst.
This novel really is all about Robin with the inimitable Aunty Kath relegated to very much a supporting role and even though the reader figures out what is going on with her far earlier than Robin does the resolution is exceedingly rushed and the repercussions are not explored at all, never mind adequately - this could have easily been the entire last quarter of the book instead of the rushed handful of pages that are devoted to it. There is also only a passing reference to other characters that were so important in the first two books; all so we can spend more time listening to Robin moan about her rather enviable situation.
On the up side there is some decent situational humour and getting to see Robin lose her ever-loving mind at the film company meeting was satisfying. What little we get of interactions between Robin and the other characters has a good level of believability and the dialogue is realistic. All plus points.
Unfortunately, she is so wrapped up in her own little slice of the world she is neglectful of her friends and how her boyfriend is still hanging on for her I do not know as she constantly sidelines him, particularly when she decamps herself, her daughter, Aunty Kath and her best friend with baby to New York. For me Robin just doesn't work as a sympathetic character in this book; she came across as completely self-absorbed and unable to see anyone else's point of view or position.
I did enjoy it but in a kind of car crash, rubber necking way.
Better than the first in the series but not as good as the second book.
Tuesday 10 December 2019
Fated by Benedict Jacka
2.5 Stars
I was genuinely looking forward to reading this novel, I really enjoy the Urban Fantasy genre and have been lookign to try a few new authors and I had seen people raving about this novel and comparing to the PC Peter Grant books (which I am a complete fan girl about) and the Harry Dresden books (on my wishlist to try). Oh dear me was I disappointed.
Here's the thing, they are billed as being Urban Fantasy set in Camden. For me they were just pure fantasy that happened to have a quasi-real world setting. There is no real interaction between the magical folk and the regular humans and no acknowledgement of the wider implications for the two rubbing against each other. Camden and the wider London area just seem to be there to act as a draw for the reader and make you think you are getting something you aren't. Then throw in a stroll through a London Park to meet up with a magical, centuries old creature; a magical party in Canary Wharf and explosive happenings in the British Museum. The settings are largely irrelevant to the plot and it may have worked better to have this set in a complete fantasy world that the author could manipulate to his desires. As it is I did feel a little "conned" by the Urban Fantasy tag because for me it simply isn't.
Then we come to the magic and the nagical people and creatures. The magical system just doesn't seem to be coherent. This is sadly true of our main character, and narrator, Alex Verus. He is supposed to be able to see all the possible futures for a course of action and then states that until a decision is made he cannot see how things will work out but he is still able to manipulate events by choosing the timeline he wants to happen. This doesn't make any sense at all because although he has made a decision to follow one possible thread the ultimate outcome of it depends on the decisions made by other invested parties and not just him. Yet, time and time again everything happens as he predicted it would. I got irrationally angry at this and the more the book progressed the less able I was to let it slide.
Alex's back story was interesting but the reveal was drawn out for far too long, indeed I spent a good portion of the book wondering if I had joined part way through the series and should already know what all these asides were about. Nope, it really is the first one the author just wants to drip feed us the information. The "voice" of Alex Verus is actually one of the most enjoyable things about the book and along with the action sequences the only thing that kept me reading.
For me this is a missed opportunity as there are some great ideas for a magical world here but just not executed to their full potential. I have seen reviews that say the second in the series is much better but from having read this one it would have to be a freebie before I would consider picking it up.
I was genuinely looking forward to reading this novel, I really enjoy the Urban Fantasy genre and have been lookign to try a few new authors and I had seen people raving about this novel and comparing to the PC Peter Grant books (which I am a complete fan girl about) and the Harry Dresden books (on my wishlist to try). Oh dear me was I disappointed.
Here's the thing, they are billed as being Urban Fantasy set in Camden. For me they were just pure fantasy that happened to have a quasi-real world setting. There is no real interaction between the magical folk and the regular humans and no acknowledgement of the wider implications for the two rubbing against each other. Camden and the wider London area just seem to be there to act as a draw for the reader and make you think you are getting something you aren't. Then throw in a stroll through a London Park to meet up with a magical, centuries old creature; a magical party in Canary Wharf and explosive happenings in the British Museum. The settings are largely irrelevant to the plot and it may have worked better to have this set in a complete fantasy world that the author could manipulate to his desires. As it is I did feel a little "conned" by the Urban Fantasy tag because for me it simply isn't.
Then we come to the magic and the nagical people and creatures. The magical system just doesn't seem to be coherent. This is sadly true of our main character, and narrator, Alex Verus. He is supposed to be able to see all the possible futures for a course of action and then states that until a decision is made he cannot see how things will work out but he is still able to manipulate events by choosing the timeline he wants to happen. This doesn't make any sense at all because although he has made a decision to follow one possible thread the ultimate outcome of it depends on the decisions made by other invested parties and not just him. Yet, time and time again everything happens as he predicted it would. I got irrationally angry at this and the more the book progressed the less able I was to let it slide.
Alex's back story was interesting but the reveal was drawn out for far too long, indeed I spent a good portion of the book wondering if I had joined part way through the series and should already know what all these asides were about. Nope, it really is the first one the author just wants to drip feed us the information. The "voice" of Alex Verus is actually one of the most enjoyable things about the book and along with the action sequences the only thing that kept me reading.
For me this is a missed opportunity as there are some great ideas for a magical world here but just not executed to their full potential. I have seen reviews that say the second in the series is much better but from having read this one it would have to be a freebie before I would consider picking it up.
The Furthest Station by Ben Aaronovitch
Having read some of the early reviews I was a little wary of this one as I love the Peter Grant series and it seemed like this was a major disappointment to a lot of the fan base. However, I think this may be because it is a novella and therefore much, much shorter than the novels we have come to expect. So, going in to the story forewarned that this was only going to be a quick read (check the page count people - I always do) I set aside a few hours on a day off so I could blitz through it in one sitting.
I am pretty sure this story is meant to be read in one big chunk as it just keeps luring you on to read one more chapter until you get to the denouement. I will admit I thoroughly enjoyed this briefer glimpse into Peter Grant's world and every so often there were little bits and pieces tossed in that had me thinking "hmm, that's going to get brought up again in the next couple of full length novels". It was also refreshing to have Sgt. Kumar of the BTP back on the page in more than a cameo role and we even got to spend a little time with Toby - huzzah (I have strangely missed the little four legged fellow in the last few novels). For me I was even relieved that there was no Faceless Man, no Leslie (I am getting a little bit fed up of that sub-plot truth be told) and only a passing reference to Bev and her family. This is just a nice little slice of investigative work and even brought in a couple of new service characters from the sprawling London suburbs that I hope we get to revisit.
Overall, I found this to be the distilled essence of his longer works in this fantastical world. That means I thoroughly loved it. As much as I have enjoyed all of the series (indeed, thus far everything has been 5 Star) there are some things that I am dreading will reappear in the next full length novel (Lies Sleeping) and I know there will be some repetition of the relationship between The Folly and the Metropolitan Police, some awkward plot bringing Leslie and the Faceless Man into a tangential enquiry to the one that is the main meat of the book and probably some fracas between Peter and the Lady Ty. Doesn't mean I won't enjoy it but the fact these things were largely missing in this novella was a breath of fresh air.
I think if you go into the book accepting that it is only a novella (and likely an idea for a full length novel that just didn't pan out) so you can get it read in a couple of hours you will enjoy it far more. I would also recommend that you read this series in order as some ideas are gently expounded on as the books progress and I suspect that if you don't have the grounding of the earlier books then some of it is going to be completely mistifying. Just one final thought:
I loved the nod to J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series when talking about Nightingale's boyhood school - not only did it make me smirk, it forced me to post about it on Facebook for the first time in around 8 months.
I am pretty sure this story is meant to be read in one big chunk as it just keeps luring you on to read one more chapter until you get to the denouement. I will admit I thoroughly enjoyed this briefer glimpse into Peter Grant's world and every so often there were little bits and pieces tossed in that had me thinking "hmm, that's going to get brought up again in the next couple of full length novels". It was also refreshing to have Sgt. Kumar of the BTP back on the page in more than a cameo role and we even got to spend a little time with Toby - huzzah (I have strangely missed the little four legged fellow in the last few novels). For me I was even relieved that there was no Faceless Man, no Leslie (I am getting a little bit fed up of that sub-plot truth be told) and only a passing reference to Bev and her family. This is just a nice little slice of investigative work and even brought in a couple of new service characters from the sprawling London suburbs that I hope we get to revisit.
Overall, I found this to be the distilled essence of his longer works in this fantastical world. That means I thoroughly loved it. As much as I have enjoyed all of the series (indeed, thus far everything has been 5 Star) there are some things that I am dreading will reappear in the next full length novel (Lies Sleeping) and I know there will be some repetition of the relationship between The Folly and the Metropolitan Police, some awkward plot bringing Leslie and the Faceless Man into a tangential enquiry to the one that is the main meat of the book and probably some fracas between Peter and the Lady Ty. Doesn't mean I won't enjoy it but the fact these things were largely missing in this novella was a breath of fresh air.
I think if you go into the book accepting that it is only a novella (and likely an idea for a full length novel that just didn't pan out) so you can get it read in a couple of hours you will enjoy it far more. I would also recommend that you read this series in order as some ideas are gently expounded on as the books progress and I suspect that if you don't have the grounding of the earlier books then some of it is going to be completely mistifying. Just one final thought:
I loved the nod to J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series when talking about Nightingale's boyhood school - not only did it make me smirk, it forced me to post about it on Facebook for the first time in around 8 months.
Thursday 5 December 2019
A Visitation Of Angels by Carolyn Haines
I haven't read any of the other Pluto's snitch series, in fact I purchased this book in error as I don't like starting a series of books part way through. However, it did sound like an intriguing premise so I decided to just plunge on in and give it a go. I can honestly say that not having read any of the previous books was not a barrier to enjoying this one. The characters soon become clear in your head and the author shows you what they are all about rather than telling you. There is some background information given at several points during the story and whilst this was fine for a newcomer to this fictional world it may be an annoyance to someone who is reading "in order".
There is a lot going on in this story. Setting aside the more spiritual and supernatural themes there is a lot about general 1920's social attitudes. Raissa is a thoroughly modern woman and finds that she needs to sublimate her personality and dress in a way that is not her usual fashion when she finds herself going to rural Alabama. A place where women are seen and not heard, where skirt lengths are definitely much longer than in her more metropolitan circles. She also finds that she is not expected, or encouraged, to have let alone voice an opinion and that despite women now having the vote rural Alabama is still clinging to notions and morals of 100 years ago where the womenfolk are concerned.
Along with the heavy feminism thread running through the tale it also touches on attitudes towards homosexuality. Reginald very definitely has to hide who he is and you get the definite impression that Raissa is more than just his close friend and business partner, she is also his beard. The story also touches on corruption of officials, ostracism of those that do not conform to one set of rigidly held beliefs; eg. the sign when they enter Mission regarding Gypsys.
The construction of the world is very well done and the descriptions of the strange society in Mission is very well drawn. I could not detect any judgment from the author about the sheer wrongness of the situation there, she allowed Raissa and Reginald to articulate that, what I did get was a clear and concise, almost bored, description of how it was and how it would be. Nice not to have something overdramatised or a "look how terrible it all is" agenda and for the author to allow their characters to speak rather than them overtly manipulating them to fit their personal agenda.
Unfortunately, this is supposed to be a supernatural tale and I did find that this aspect was rather disappointing. Initially the nature of Gabriel was confusing and then you become very frustrated with Raissa for taking so long to figure out what is going on. There is a nice twist towards the end with the Pinkerton Agent (whose name I cannot remember but think it may have been Michael). There is a lot of drawing out events which I think was supposed to generate tension for the reader but I found it just dissipated things for me and everything felt rather slow going until the last 20% or so of the book when things get very pacy.
Not a bad read, but not a great one either.
There is a lot going on in this story. Setting aside the more spiritual and supernatural themes there is a lot about general 1920's social attitudes. Raissa is a thoroughly modern woman and finds that she needs to sublimate her personality and dress in a way that is not her usual fashion when she finds herself going to rural Alabama. A place where women are seen and not heard, where skirt lengths are definitely much longer than in her more metropolitan circles. She also finds that she is not expected, or encouraged, to have let alone voice an opinion and that despite women now having the vote rural Alabama is still clinging to notions and morals of 100 years ago where the womenfolk are concerned.
Along with the heavy feminism thread running through the tale it also touches on attitudes towards homosexuality. Reginald very definitely has to hide who he is and you get the definite impression that Raissa is more than just his close friend and business partner, she is also his beard. The story also touches on corruption of officials, ostracism of those that do not conform to one set of rigidly held beliefs; eg. the sign when they enter Mission regarding Gypsys.
The construction of the world is very well done and the descriptions of the strange society in Mission is very well drawn. I could not detect any judgment from the author about the sheer wrongness of the situation there, she allowed Raissa and Reginald to articulate that, what I did get was a clear and concise, almost bored, description of how it was and how it would be. Nice not to have something overdramatised or a "look how terrible it all is" agenda and for the author to allow their characters to speak rather than them overtly manipulating them to fit their personal agenda.
Unfortunately, this is supposed to be a supernatural tale and I did find that this aspect was rather disappointing. Initially the nature of Gabriel was confusing and then you become very frustrated with Raissa for taking so long to figure out what is going on. There is a nice twist towards the end with the Pinkerton Agent (whose name I cannot remember but think it may have been Michael). There is a lot of drawing out events which I think was supposed to generate tension for the reader but I found it just dissipated things for me and everything felt rather slow going until the last 20% or so of the book when things get very pacy.
Not a bad read, but not a great one either.
The Pact by Amy Heydenrych
There is so much that I found wrong in this book that I am not entirely sure where best to start. For a start the title is confusing, there is no real "pact". I guess the title refers to the final reveal of what happened to Nicole and that page and half contains a pact of sorts. Maybe a better title would have been The Entitled or The Clueless.
As you can tell, I really didn't like this book and I did struggle to finish it. After allowing myself a few DNF's in 2018 I was determined that 2019 would be different so I powered through but it took a lot of bribery to get me there.
First off the characters in this book are entirely unsympathetic and to say it is written by a woman the female characters in particular are written in an almost misogynistic way. They are either power hungry shrews (Nicole), the delicate ingenue who is afraid of her own shadow (Freya) or tough cookies with a frail centre and trust issues (Isla). The men are either manipulative narcissists (Jay, Julian) or tender ciphers (Simon). Nobody feels like a rounded person on the page or as though they have any basis in reality which is happen as well as if you met anyone this one dimensional in reality the world would probably implode with the banality of it all.
The plot itself jumps around to cover Freya's tough college days when she was living out of her car, through her early days at Atypical (a tech start up from hell) and for a few months after the murder of Freya. Whilst used to the flashback style of storytelling I found that it really grated in this book. There was no continuity to which timeline we were going to be in and you could literally go from a page and a half set in the here and now then to a page 4 years ago and then get 3 pages of a month before the murder. I can understand what the author was trying to achieve with this but it is so incredibly bitty it undermines the device.
Ultimately, the plot centres around a so-called prank that Freya plays on Nicole which then backfires spectacularly. However, the blurb and the first half of the book make you think it backfires in one way when it turns out that all that is smoke and mirrors and it actually goes very wrong in a different way (yawn!). I honestly am not sure what disappointed me most; the lacklustre characters or the pedestrian plot with a very thin idea stretched so far as to become almost invisible.
The only thing that stopped this being a 1 Star read was the fact that it highlighted office politics and work place bullying. Something that any wage slave is more than aware off and usually suffers through at least once in their working life. Other than that for me this is one to avoid.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED FROM READERS FIRST.
As you can tell, I really didn't like this book and I did struggle to finish it. After allowing myself a few DNF's in 2018 I was determined that 2019 would be different so I powered through but it took a lot of bribery to get me there.
First off the characters in this book are entirely unsympathetic and to say it is written by a woman the female characters in particular are written in an almost misogynistic way. They are either power hungry shrews (Nicole), the delicate ingenue who is afraid of her own shadow (Freya) or tough cookies with a frail centre and trust issues (Isla). The men are either manipulative narcissists (Jay, Julian) or tender ciphers (Simon). Nobody feels like a rounded person on the page or as though they have any basis in reality which is happen as well as if you met anyone this one dimensional in reality the world would probably implode with the banality of it all.
The plot itself jumps around to cover Freya's tough college days when she was living out of her car, through her early days at Atypical (a tech start up from hell) and for a few months after the murder of Freya. Whilst used to the flashback style of storytelling I found that it really grated in this book. There was no continuity to which timeline we were going to be in and you could literally go from a page and a half set in the here and now then to a page 4 years ago and then get 3 pages of a month before the murder. I can understand what the author was trying to achieve with this but it is so incredibly bitty it undermines the device.
Ultimately, the plot centres around a so-called prank that Freya plays on Nicole which then backfires spectacularly. However, the blurb and the first half of the book make you think it backfires in one way when it turns out that all that is smoke and mirrors and it actually goes very wrong in a different way (yawn!). I honestly am not sure what disappointed me most; the lacklustre characters or the pedestrian plot with a very thin idea stretched so far as to become almost invisible.
The only thing that stopped this being a 1 Star read was the fact that it highlighted office politics and work place bullying. Something that any wage slave is more than aware off and usually suffers through at least once in their working life. Other than that for me this is one to avoid.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED FROM READERS FIRST.
How Beautiful They Were by Boston Teran
3.5 Stars
This book swerves between two viewpoints - that of Nathaniel Luck which is told in "real time" and that of his erstwhile stage manager which is told in a flashback style. It does make for a little confusion at time as they are not clearly delineated and it sometimes took several lines before it clicked in my brain why the perspective had suddenly changed. This was not helped by the fact it didn't engage me as much as I thought it would. Largely this is down to the actual writing style which not only seeks to tell a story set in a Victorian era but seems to try to emulate the writing style of the period as well as evoke the prevailing attitudes and living conditions of the time.
There is also a heavy handed attitude to morality throughout and almost a "look at how barbaric it all was" view point. All the way through the reading I was reminded of the old maxim "The past is a different country, they do things differently there". Whilst we should not forget atrocities that man perpetrated against man for simply being born with a different coloured skin, having a predilection for the same gender or into a penurious household this book seems to beat you around the head with it. There is no subtlety evident in the telling and rather than a mirror being held up to our collective pasts you are bludgeoned around the head with it.
What saved the book for me was the glimpses in to the raucous theatre life. The characters that inhabit these shady theatres and Nathaniel Luck's reflections on his craft and how he could improve, how he could captivate, how he could bring real life to the stage and make it interesting. His personal journey is also interesting with all it's meanderings in to despair and joy.
To be honest, the whole thing is done better by Martha Conway in The Floating Theatre.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA BOOK SIRENS.
This book swerves between two viewpoints - that of Nathaniel Luck which is told in "real time" and that of his erstwhile stage manager which is told in a flashback style. It does make for a little confusion at time as they are not clearly delineated and it sometimes took several lines before it clicked in my brain why the perspective had suddenly changed. This was not helped by the fact it didn't engage me as much as I thought it would. Largely this is down to the actual writing style which not only seeks to tell a story set in a Victorian era but seems to try to emulate the writing style of the period as well as evoke the prevailing attitudes and living conditions of the time.
There is also a heavy handed attitude to morality throughout and almost a "look at how barbaric it all was" view point. All the way through the reading I was reminded of the old maxim "The past is a different country, they do things differently there". Whilst we should not forget atrocities that man perpetrated against man for simply being born with a different coloured skin, having a predilection for the same gender or into a penurious household this book seems to beat you around the head with it. There is no subtlety evident in the telling and rather than a mirror being held up to our collective pasts you are bludgeoned around the head with it.
What saved the book for me was the glimpses in to the raucous theatre life. The characters that inhabit these shady theatres and Nathaniel Luck's reflections on his craft and how he could improve, how he could captivate, how he could bring real life to the stage and make it interesting. His personal journey is also interesting with all it's meanderings in to despair and joy.
To be honest, the whole thing is done better by Martha Conway in The Floating Theatre.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA BOOK SIRENS.
Living The Dream by Lauren Berry
3.5 Stars
The tag line for this book irrationally annoys me "A millennial tale about...". From having read this book it is just a standard about that good old work / life balance and how much the world is ready to stab you in the back at every turn. Honestly, if this story is representative of the millennials then it equally applies to us doddery old Gen X'ers too. I'm sure it applies to those who have gone before and those who are yet to come too.
Okay, that mini-rant over I did enjoy the story, it just didn't "grab" me. I enjoyed each page and the way the plot (such as it is) unfolded and the characters were relatable. It was just vaguely pedestrian. It had nothing to say, ultimately, that we don't already know but it was fun and fluffy and passed the time in an agreeable fashion.
Emma, hates her job but can't see a way out to do what she really wants to do. She lives in a very dodgy flatshare that means it's inhabitants can't register for a doctor or register to vote because it isn't actually a domestic property but at least the rent is cheap and they avoid Council Tax. Not forgetting the perk of as many pleather handbags as you can get a five finger discount on. Throw in a friend that she doesn't seem to actually like very much and a best friend who is as messed up as she is by the whole working life and "following your dream" guff as she is and you have a pretty standard chick lit set up.
Make no mistake, despite the blurb and the tag line this is a solid piece of chick lit. Complete with handy resolutions all around and a couple of happy endings thrown in.
Emma and the delightfully named Clementine Twist are relatable (to an extent) and fun characters. They mess up, they own their mistakes and you know from the first few chapters that they will come good. This makes it enjoyable in a box set binging kind of way. You don't really want to savour the story you just want to barge through it like a bulldozer.
The cringy office at APRC will be familiar to anyone who has ever worked in an office environment. Maybe that is where the appeal for this one really lies; the reality of working life and office politics blown up to exaggerated proportions. Certainly the resolutions for the two main characters don't exactly ring true to life for the vast majority of us wage slaves.
I did enjoy it but it didn't pull me deep and keep me turning those pages.
THANK YOU TO THE PUBLISHERS FOR A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK TO REVIEW.
The tag line for this book irrationally annoys me "A millennial tale about...". From having read this book it is just a standard about that good old work / life balance and how much the world is ready to stab you in the back at every turn. Honestly, if this story is representative of the millennials then it equally applies to us doddery old Gen X'ers too. I'm sure it applies to those who have gone before and those who are yet to come too.
Okay, that mini-rant over I did enjoy the story, it just didn't "grab" me. I enjoyed each page and the way the plot (such as it is) unfolded and the characters were relatable. It was just vaguely pedestrian. It had nothing to say, ultimately, that we don't already know but it was fun and fluffy and passed the time in an agreeable fashion.
Emma, hates her job but can't see a way out to do what she really wants to do. She lives in a very dodgy flatshare that means it's inhabitants can't register for a doctor or register to vote because it isn't actually a domestic property but at least the rent is cheap and they avoid Council Tax. Not forgetting the perk of as many pleather handbags as you can get a five finger discount on. Throw in a friend that she doesn't seem to actually like very much and a best friend who is as messed up as she is by the whole working life and "following your dream" guff as she is and you have a pretty standard chick lit set up.
Make no mistake, despite the blurb and the tag line this is a solid piece of chick lit. Complete with handy resolutions all around and a couple of happy endings thrown in.
Emma and the delightfully named Clementine Twist are relatable (to an extent) and fun characters. They mess up, they own their mistakes and you know from the first few chapters that they will come good. This makes it enjoyable in a box set binging kind of way. You don't really want to savour the story you just want to barge through it like a bulldozer.
The cringy office at APRC will be familiar to anyone who has ever worked in an office environment. Maybe that is where the appeal for this one really lies; the reality of working life and office politics blown up to exaggerated proportions. Certainly the resolutions for the two main characters don't exactly ring true to life for the vast majority of us wage slaves.
I did enjoy it but it didn't pull me deep and keep me turning those pages.
THANK YOU TO THE PUBLISHERS FOR A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK TO REVIEW.
Tuesday 19 November 2019
Bittersweet by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore
This is a very confusing book; the first 100 pages or so are great and really suck you in and grip you and the same goes for the last 70 or so. Unfortunately those myriad of pages inbetween are full of filler, banalities and only the odd nugget of plot development or character progression. It almost felt as though the book was written and then someone somewhere decided that it needed more words, many more words, a surfeit of words so the entire mid-section was crafted. I will readily admit that this came close to being a DNF because of this, I powered through with the help of copious amounts of caffeine and was ultimately glad I did because the pay off at the end of the book was worth it; just.
The blurb does sound very enticing and you expect to get a good old-fashioned saga. There is an attempt at providing this but ultimately the characters just don't ring true on the page, you are constantly aware you are reading and that is a no-no for me. I want to be transported in to the authors world and not just told about by the narrator. In this case the narrator, Mabel Dagmar, is not a particularly warm or empathetic character and it is clear she is in this for what she can get. This makes her not so very different to The Winslows and, indeed, the lines do get blurred so frequently that I did find myself having to re-read sections, much as Mabel herself does with Paradise Lost.
Indeed, it is clear that we are supposed to be drawing parables between Milton's long form poem and this story. However, I felt that this was done in such a heavy handed and obvious way that it lost all veracity. The writing itself is rambling and meanders through fairly mundane sections, picks up a thread and then leaves it dangling in perpetuity, moves off at a tangent and then finally gets back to the meat of the story. It does mean that any revelation about The Winslow's history is diluted and I found I just didn't care about Birch and his current reign or Kitty and her previous ministrations to the family. I think it says something when there are deaths of frequent characters (both by nefarious means and natural) and, as a reader, you just shrug and move on.
In short, this book is trying to be "something" and in trying so hard it fails to be "anything". True, I have given it 3 Stars, but these are purely for the protracted set up and the denouement; the rest of it (including the epilogue) I could have happily managed without.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK PROVIDED BY THE PUBLISHER
The blurb does sound very enticing and you expect to get a good old-fashioned saga. There is an attempt at providing this but ultimately the characters just don't ring true on the page, you are constantly aware you are reading and that is a no-no for me. I want to be transported in to the authors world and not just told about by the narrator. In this case the narrator, Mabel Dagmar, is not a particularly warm or empathetic character and it is clear she is in this for what she can get. This makes her not so very different to The Winslows and, indeed, the lines do get blurred so frequently that I did find myself having to re-read sections, much as Mabel herself does with Paradise Lost.
Indeed, it is clear that we are supposed to be drawing parables between Milton's long form poem and this story. However, I felt that this was done in such a heavy handed and obvious way that it lost all veracity. The writing itself is rambling and meanders through fairly mundane sections, picks up a thread and then leaves it dangling in perpetuity, moves off at a tangent and then finally gets back to the meat of the story. It does mean that any revelation about The Winslow's history is diluted and I found I just didn't care about Birch and his current reign or Kitty and her previous ministrations to the family. I think it says something when there are deaths of frequent characters (both by nefarious means and natural) and, as a reader, you just shrug and move on.
In short, this book is trying to be "something" and in trying so hard it fails to be "anything". True, I have given it 3 Stars, but these are purely for the protracted set up and the denouement; the rest of it (including the epilogue) I could have happily managed without.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK PROVIDED BY THE PUBLISHER
Don't Tell Me How It Ends by Craig McLay
3.5 stars
Andrew MacLennan is an aspiring film maker and he has always wanted to attend the prestigious Toronto School Of Film. The only thing is he has never lived away from home before, he has never had a girlfriend and he has definitely, never, ever experienced intimacy. Well, he doesn't think he has. You see, his twin brother was killed in a car accident when they were 15 and the last 10 years are all a bit patchy, memory wise.
This novel deals with his first year at the film school and it is all a bit Seinfeld in that really the book appears to be about nothing more than the mundanities of life. Approximately three quarters of the way through this changes and it does reveal much more about our narrator and his past and how that is affecting his present and future. By this point you are sort of on board with things and idly hoping things work out for him but you aren't really invested.
The characters are solid and a good mix of personality types and they are very racially diverse. This doesn't feel like a deliberate ploy by the author but more a genuine realisation of the disparate groups of people that are thrown together in University and the randomness of the friend groups that spring up. The humour is warm and we are laughing with the boys (Andrew, Edgar, Esteban and Satyajit) rather than at them as they try and negotiate the demands of their course, moving off campus and having love lives.
To be honest, I found the Nira / Andrew romantic relationship very uncomfortable; they just didn't feel like a fit and it all seemed to be a device just to allow the reader to peek in to Andrew's clouded past. Unfortunately the reveal of what he has been hiding from himself comes as no surprise to the reader and it did kind of feel a bit Lifetime Movie for me.
A decent enough read but let down by overly clumsy set pieces.
Andrew MacLennan is an aspiring film maker and he has always wanted to attend the prestigious Toronto School Of Film. The only thing is he has never lived away from home before, he has never had a girlfriend and he has definitely, never, ever experienced intimacy. Well, he doesn't think he has. You see, his twin brother was killed in a car accident when they were 15 and the last 10 years are all a bit patchy, memory wise.
This novel deals with his first year at the film school and it is all a bit Seinfeld in that really the book appears to be about nothing more than the mundanities of life. Approximately three quarters of the way through this changes and it does reveal much more about our narrator and his past and how that is affecting his present and future. By this point you are sort of on board with things and idly hoping things work out for him but you aren't really invested.
The characters are solid and a good mix of personality types and they are very racially diverse. This doesn't feel like a deliberate ploy by the author but more a genuine realisation of the disparate groups of people that are thrown together in University and the randomness of the friend groups that spring up. The humour is warm and we are laughing with the boys (Andrew, Edgar, Esteban and Satyajit) rather than at them as they try and negotiate the demands of their course, moving off campus and having love lives.
To be honest, I found the Nira / Andrew romantic relationship very uncomfortable; they just didn't feel like a fit and it all seemed to be a device just to allow the reader to peek in to Andrew's clouded past. Unfortunately the reveal of what he has been hiding from himself comes as no surprise to the reader and it did kind of feel a bit Lifetime Movie for me.
A decent enough read but let down by overly clumsy set pieces.
The Vampire Knitting Club by Nancy Warren
2.5 Stars
This sounded like it was going to be a fun book to read - cosy mystery (not sure I like that term but it seems prevalent and everyone knows what it means by now so I have to use it), a wool shop and vampires. What's not to like? Unfortunately, with this one there is quite a bit that just doesn't hit the mark. Luckily, it is a very quick read so the flaws are easier to ignore.
I think one of my biggest issues was the setting. Oxford as a base for the supernatural has been done to death and whilst I can understand the allure of setting a book (or series of them) here, for the scenery if nothing else, I am so over it. Being a huge fan of the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness I found myself constantly comparing the fictional worlds and this one comes up severely lacking. We have a transplanted American witch, a nest of vampires and an ancient setting. What we don't have is a compelling heroine, a cast of intriguing support characters or any real interest in how things are going to work out. This was a book that I read just to get to the end without any investment or real interest in the tale being told.
Things do look up towards the end though when Lucy's cousin Violet and her mother turn up at The Cardinal Woolsey determined to wrest the family grimoire from Lucy's hands. In the interests of honesty I had to look up the heroine's name when writing this review and it is only 4 days since I finished the book. The family dynamics were interesting and the whole task to determine who got the book was well executed on the page and I did find myself drawn in to the situation. That is almost enough to make me want to see what happens in the second book in this series - almost.
The plot about the grandmother's death and the whole idea that vampire's walk and live amongst us is paper thin and from the entrance of Sydney Lafontaine you know that granny did not have a natural death and why she didn't have a natural death. As this happens in the opening chapters there is little in the way of tension, suspense or even interest. The vampire nest under the store just feels plain odd and unless the store is the size of your average department store the whole thing must take up the block of four stores and not just the one, tiny wool shop. Yes, I know this is a fantasy novel but at least make an attempt at creating a believable world for your reader.
This sounded like it was going to be a fun book to read - cosy mystery (not sure I like that term but it seems prevalent and everyone knows what it means by now so I have to use it), a wool shop and vampires. What's not to like? Unfortunately, with this one there is quite a bit that just doesn't hit the mark. Luckily, it is a very quick read so the flaws are easier to ignore.
I think one of my biggest issues was the setting. Oxford as a base for the supernatural has been done to death and whilst I can understand the allure of setting a book (or series of them) here, for the scenery if nothing else, I am so over it. Being a huge fan of the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness I found myself constantly comparing the fictional worlds and this one comes up severely lacking. We have a transplanted American witch, a nest of vampires and an ancient setting. What we don't have is a compelling heroine, a cast of intriguing support characters or any real interest in how things are going to work out. This was a book that I read just to get to the end without any investment or real interest in the tale being told.
Things do look up towards the end though when Lucy's cousin Violet and her mother turn up at The Cardinal Woolsey determined to wrest the family grimoire from Lucy's hands. In the interests of honesty I had to look up the heroine's name when writing this review and it is only 4 days since I finished the book. The family dynamics were interesting and the whole task to determine who got the book was well executed on the page and I did find myself drawn in to the situation. That is almost enough to make me want to see what happens in the second book in this series - almost.
The plot about the grandmother's death and the whole idea that vampire's walk and live amongst us is paper thin and from the entrance of Sydney Lafontaine you know that granny did not have a natural death and why she didn't have a natural death. As this happens in the opening chapters there is little in the way of tension, suspense or even interest. The vampire nest under the store just feels plain odd and unless the store is the size of your average department store the whole thing must take up the block of four stores and not just the one, tiny wool shop. Yes, I know this is a fantasy novel but at least make an attempt at creating a believable world for your reader.
Holly Banks Full Of Angst by Julie Valerie
Basically this is supposed to be the tale of one woman's attempts to get her life on track. Things are stressful right ow - just moved house to a completely new area, daughter is about to start school for the first time, husband is in a new job that is swallowing all his time and the parental unit is a liability. You can see why Holly Banks is full of angst can't you - so much happening in such a small time frame. Even worse the Village Of Primm is one of those picture perfect American villages and seems to have an overdeveloped sense of worth - in fact, it sounds like a downright scary place to live with it's enclaves and F. U. Frisbee tournaments and all that topiary is far too Overlook Hotel for me.
The biggest issue I have is with the characters in this book, to the last one they are deeply unpleasant. We only really get to know Holly and that is only because she is our narrator. Initially I felt a little bit of sympathy for her, moving to her ideal home a week before her daughter starts school for the first time could only be a recipe for stress but by the time we got to the end of the protracted Real Estate Agent doorstep scene I was done. Holly's internal monologue is supposed to reflect her desires to return to the filmmaking she studied at College, what it actually does is show that she is not a particularly "nice" person. She is incapable of seeing another's point of view and sees their actions only in terms of their direct impingement on her; to be honest I'd love to give a psychiatrist a copy of this and ask them to diagnose Holly Banks and I fear angst would be the least of her worries once they were done.
The only member of the supporting cast that I could get behind even a little bit was Greta, Holly's mother. Yes she is overdone as an alcoholic gambling addict that follows one scatty scheme after another - Cat Doula anyone? However, she is the only character that has any facets to her character and actually comes across on the page as a person. Sadly, it take a looong time for her to turn up as more than an aside and by the time she does you are way past caring about what is happening with Holly or in the wider, weird world of Primm.
I can see that this is supposed to be a satire, I even noticed tiny sections that got it tonally right. However, on the whole, this book is a gigantic swing and a miss. It rapidly becomes a parody of itself rather than the world that it is hoping to lampoon. There seem to be certain things that the author has a major issue with and so spends far too long setting the scenes up and drawing the outcome out, this just leads to reader disinterest rather than illuminating the ridiculousness of real world behaviour. In all honesty, my recommendation is to give this one a body swerve - pretend it is Mary-Margaret St. James and her sign up papers for the PTA and do that commando crawl from the hall (one of the few scenes that got the balance right).
The biggest issue I have is with the characters in this book, to the last one they are deeply unpleasant. We only really get to know Holly and that is only because she is our narrator. Initially I felt a little bit of sympathy for her, moving to her ideal home a week before her daughter starts school for the first time could only be a recipe for stress but by the time we got to the end of the protracted Real Estate Agent doorstep scene I was done. Holly's internal monologue is supposed to reflect her desires to return to the filmmaking she studied at College, what it actually does is show that she is not a particularly "nice" person. She is incapable of seeing another's point of view and sees their actions only in terms of their direct impingement on her; to be honest I'd love to give a psychiatrist a copy of this and ask them to diagnose Holly Banks and I fear angst would be the least of her worries once they were done.
The only member of the supporting cast that I could get behind even a little bit was Greta, Holly's mother. Yes she is overdone as an alcoholic gambling addict that follows one scatty scheme after another - Cat Doula anyone? However, she is the only character that has any facets to her character and actually comes across on the page as a person. Sadly, it take a looong time for her to turn up as more than an aside and by the time she does you are way past caring about what is happening with Holly or in the wider, weird world of Primm.
I can see that this is supposed to be a satire, I even noticed tiny sections that got it tonally right. However, on the whole, this book is a gigantic swing and a miss. It rapidly becomes a parody of itself rather than the world that it is hoping to lampoon. There seem to be certain things that the author has a major issue with and so spends far too long setting the scenes up and drawing the outcome out, this just leads to reader disinterest rather than illuminating the ridiculousness of real world behaviour. In all honesty, my recommendation is to give this one a body swerve - pretend it is Mary-Margaret St. James and her sign up papers for the PTA and do that commando crawl from the hall (one of the few scenes that got the balance right).
Monday 18 November 2019
Not-Quite-Supermodel by Kathy Tong
Whilst there is a lot to love about this book there is also a lot to, if not actively hate then certainly to, dislike intensely.
Firstly there is the severe lack of proofreading; there are double words, words missed out entirely and some very peculiar sentence constructions. This does become an issue as they are peppered liberally throughout the novel and start to take on a life of their own and therefore overpower the story.
Then you have the storyline repetitions to hammer a point home. I can just about cope with the constant references to wanting to eat Oreos or wanting to stop smoking - after all if you are on a constant diet of low calorie ready meals you are going to want your favourite high fat, high calorie snack and if you are a smoker the "I should give up" thought crosses your mind several times in a 24 hour period. What did start to irritate were the constant references to her issues surrounding bathrooms, at times it felt like this was a good 75% of Alex's character. I'm also not convinced that her showering solution would actually work - have you ever got cling film wet?, it isn't pretty.
Fortunately the good stuff manages to overpower the bad and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute spent buried in my eReader. Alex is actually fairly normal, sure she has her quirks but don't we all, when she gets the chance to try a different life she screws her courage in both hands and gives it a go. It doesn't exactly run smoothly for her but in a way that feels completely logical and grounded in normality. From a poisonous booker at her agency to a complete inability to pose she certainly has her work cut out getting booked.
Throw in a cast of peculiar support characters and there is definitely scope for humour. Fortunately, we do get plenty of fun moments, not laugh out loud funny but certainly smirk worthy. From Keisha on the check out at the local store with her full on abrasive New York attitude through to the wannabes populating the staff at "the" bar/restaurant to be seen in. The only thing that felt forced was how easily Alex slips in to friendship groups, the older you get the harder it is and the character doesn't come across as the type who would easily make close friendships as they involve revealing parts of yourself you don't like. However, make friends she does and quite a lot of them, strangely she only has one friend she is in touch with from back home throughout the entire book.
The story was fun and vibrant and is a glorious romp. If you want to just be entertained then this one does that in spades.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA BOOK SIRENS.
Firstly there is the severe lack of proofreading; there are double words, words missed out entirely and some very peculiar sentence constructions. This does become an issue as they are peppered liberally throughout the novel and start to take on a life of their own and therefore overpower the story.
Then you have the storyline repetitions to hammer a point home. I can just about cope with the constant references to wanting to eat Oreos or wanting to stop smoking - after all if you are on a constant diet of low calorie ready meals you are going to want your favourite high fat, high calorie snack and if you are a smoker the "I should give up" thought crosses your mind several times in a 24 hour period. What did start to irritate were the constant references to her issues surrounding bathrooms, at times it felt like this was a good 75% of Alex's character. I'm also not convinced that her showering solution would actually work - have you ever got cling film wet?, it isn't pretty.
Fortunately the good stuff manages to overpower the bad and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute spent buried in my eReader. Alex is actually fairly normal, sure she has her quirks but don't we all, when she gets the chance to try a different life she screws her courage in both hands and gives it a go. It doesn't exactly run smoothly for her but in a way that feels completely logical and grounded in normality. From a poisonous booker at her agency to a complete inability to pose she certainly has her work cut out getting booked.
Throw in a cast of peculiar support characters and there is definitely scope for humour. Fortunately, we do get plenty of fun moments, not laugh out loud funny but certainly smirk worthy. From Keisha on the check out at the local store with her full on abrasive New York attitude through to the wannabes populating the staff at "the" bar/restaurant to be seen in. The only thing that felt forced was how easily Alex slips in to friendship groups, the older you get the harder it is and the character doesn't come across as the type who would easily make close friendships as they involve revealing parts of yourself you don't like. However, make friends she does and quite a lot of them, strangely she only has one friend she is in touch with from back home throughout the entire book.
The story was fun and vibrant and is a glorious romp. If you want to just be entertained then this one does that in spades.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA BOOK SIRENS.
Tuesday 12 November 2019
Salvage by Duncan Ralston
It's not usually a good sign when you keep checking the bottom right of your eReader to find out how far through the story you are and I found myself doing so constantly. It took me 5 days to read 30% of this book and then I managed the rest in a day through sheer grit, determination and a fervent desire to move on to something else. I was sorely tempted to just leave this one on my could not finish pile but I did that far too much last year so bribed myself in to finishing it.
The overall idea is a good one but the execution is flawed. Almost from the off you know where this is going to go and it goes exactly where you would expect - just throws in a few murders along the way. There are huge plot chasms more or less from the get go and it gives the impression that the author was writing this in snatches around their "real" life and didn't have a synopsis to refer back to. The biggest one that really grated with me was the magically refilling scuba tanks - nowhere is it mentioned that there is somewhere to refill the tanks or that Owen or Jo have more than one, even a little aside to The Red Pony having a small scuba outlet attached would have covered it. But no, the tanks miraculously refill every time they are used. I can't discuss the others because they would give the plot away.
The story is also incredibly s-l-o-w. It takes forever for more than brow beating and clothes pulling in grief to actually move in to any sort of action and even when it does everything is so leisurely that the tension that could have been created is dissipated in to the silt at the bottom of Chapel Lake. There are some good sections in the last 15% of the book when the secrets that the lake holds are revealed and the pace picks up; if the book had managed to hold your attention like this last section it would have been incredible. Instead it has a very strong ending but is so weak and diluted prior to that you may not persevere long enough to get the pay off.
The characters are pretty blah which doesn't help matters. There was such scope to be had with Owen and Jo but it seemed to be wasted. Everyone else is a little bit backwoods hillbilly and cliched. Even Lori is depicted with a couple of broad strokes that make her sound quite boring despite her nomadic lifestyle and the values that Owen tells us she has.
This is a genre I love and have been reading for nigh on 35 years now and I know a stinker when I read one, unfortunately this is one.
The overall idea is a good one but the execution is flawed. Almost from the off you know where this is going to go and it goes exactly where you would expect - just throws in a few murders along the way. There are huge plot chasms more or less from the get go and it gives the impression that the author was writing this in snatches around their "real" life and didn't have a synopsis to refer back to. The biggest one that really grated with me was the magically refilling scuba tanks - nowhere is it mentioned that there is somewhere to refill the tanks or that Owen or Jo have more than one, even a little aside to The Red Pony having a small scuba outlet attached would have covered it. But no, the tanks miraculously refill every time they are used. I can't discuss the others because they would give the plot away.
The story is also incredibly s-l-o-w. It takes forever for more than brow beating and clothes pulling in grief to actually move in to any sort of action and even when it does everything is so leisurely that the tension that could have been created is dissipated in to the silt at the bottom of Chapel Lake. There are some good sections in the last 15% of the book when the secrets that the lake holds are revealed and the pace picks up; if the book had managed to hold your attention like this last section it would have been incredible. Instead it has a very strong ending but is so weak and diluted prior to that you may not persevere long enough to get the pay off.
The characters are pretty blah which doesn't help matters. There was such scope to be had with Owen and Jo but it seemed to be wasted. Everyone else is a little bit backwoods hillbilly and cliched. Even Lori is depicted with a couple of broad strokes that make her sound quite boring despite her nomadic lifestyle and the values that Owen tells us she has.
This is a genre I love and have been reading for nigh on 35 years now and I know a stinker when I read one, unfortunately this is one.
The Thunder Girls by Melanie Blake
2.5 Stars
First off, what a truly appalling name for a band - The Thunder Girls. Really, this was the best you could come up with? At first it didn't bother me but when the PR Team start with the Thunderbirds puns for promoting the band it started to make me twitch and that didn't improve as the book progressed.
Then we come to the publishing house hyperbole surrounding the novel:
Glamorous - Well, maybe a little bit of glamour is in the book but mainly in name checking designers and talking about the application of lip gloss. Honestly, the amount of time spent mentioning one character or another applying lip gloss or running out of lip gloss or lending lip gloss is incredible. No real glamour though.
Dramatic - There are some moments that could be described as dramatic and a couple even manage to live up to it. Sadly, most of the supposed drama falls a bit flat.
Sensational - It reads like a British Sunday Tabloid that is now defunct so there is a lot of sensationalism in the book but that is very different to being sensational. It is just a bunch of tropes and the usual rumours surrounding anyone with a modicum of fame blended together.
Blockbuster - Well it is certainly that, only because of serious hype building by the real life PR team. The blurb is cleverly written to draw you in but please don't expect too much of this book, it is not what it's glossy surface purports it to be.
There is a plot here but one that annoyed me as each member of The Thunder Girls (gag) is painted as a victim throughout the book. Each and every revelation about what happened after the band split up only serves to denigrate the character further on the page. I am sure that the author intended us to see the adversity in these women's lives and watch them reclaim their rightful place in the world as empowering. It simply doesn't work, probably because each character is a cliche:
Chrissie - The true Diva of the group - selfish, self-centred and concerned only with image.
Roxanne - The business woman of the group - her business is failing now but she hopes the reunion will give it a big enough boost to get her back in the black. Fancies herself as an entrepreneur but really she is just riding the coat tails of her fame.
Carly - The quiet one, stuck in a borderline abusive marriage to another ex-famous person (this time a snooker player) she uses the opportunity to get away from him. That really is all she does.
Anita - The wild and crazy one, went down the whole drug and alcohol route and then disappeared to Brazil where she married a woman and ran a bar. Now they are back together, oh no, will she become wild and crazy once more?
Almost every early 1990's girl group cliche is covered - we just needed someone really interested in football to make the set of five. Although they were supposed to have their heyday in the 1980s, it really all felt much more 1990s to me.
I just couldn't take anything about this book seriously. From stumbling dialogue to a plot that drags along until you get to a set piece it just didn't do it for me. Definitely more style than substance.
First off, what a truly appalling name for a band - The Thunder Girls. Really, this was the best you could come up with? At first it didn't bother me but when the PR Team start with the Thunderbirds puns for promoting the band it started to make me twitch and that didn't improve as the book progressed.
Then we come to the publishing house hyperbole surrounding the novel:
Glamorous - Well, maybe a little bit of glamour is in the book but mainly in name checking designers and talking about the application of lip gloss. Honestly, the amount of time spent mentioning one character or another applying lip gloss or running out of lip gloss or lending lip gloss is incredible. No real glamour though.
Dramatic - There are some moments that could be described as dramatic and a couple even manage to live up to it. Sadly, most of the supposed drama falls a bit flat.
Sensational - It reads like a British Sunday Tabloid that is now defunct so there is a lot of sensationalism in the book but that is very different to being sensational. It is just a bunch of tropes and the usual rumours surrounding anyone with a modicum of fame blended together.
Blockbuster - Well it is certainly that, only because of serious hype building by the real life PR team. The blurb is cleverly written to draw you in but please don't expect too much of this book, it is not what it's glossy surface purports it to be.
There is a plot here but one that annoyed me as each member of The Thunder Girls (gag) is painted as a victim throughout the book. Each and every revelation about what happened after the band split up only serves to denigrate the character further on the page. I am sure that the author intended us to see the adversity in these women's lives and watch them reclaim their rightful place in the world as empowering. It simply doesn't work, probably because each character is a cliche:
Chrissie - The true Diva of the group - selfish, self-centred and concerned only with image.
Roxanne - The business woman of the group - her business is failing now but she hopes the reunion will give it a big enough boost to get her back in the black. Fancies herself as an entrepreneur but really she is just riding the coat tails of her fame.
Carly - The quiet one, stuck in a borderline abusive marriage to another ex-famous person (this time a snooker player) she uses the opportunity to get away from him. That really is all she does.
Anita - The wild and crazy one, went down the whole drug and alcohol route and then disappeared to Brazil where she married a woman and ran a bar. Now they are back together, oh no, will she become wild and crazy once more?
Almost every early 1990's girl group cliche is covered - we just needed someone really interested in football to make the set of five. Although they were supposed to have their heyday in the 1980s, it really all felt much more 1990s to me.
I just couldn't take anything about this book seriously. From stumbling dialogue to a plot that drags along until you get to a set piece it just didn't do it for me. Definitely more style than substance.
Under The Bones by Kory M Shrum
This is a series that needs to be read in order, yes there are flashbacks to help a reader new to this world out but they don't start until halfway through the book and may leave you a bit confused if you haven't read the first one. Be warned though, this second book really isn't a patch on the first one.
By now I think we understand that when Lou moves in to a dark area she can transport herself to anywhere in the world she wants - and even to another world. At least once every chapter told from Lou's perspective we get retold this bit of information and it started to really, really irritate me. There is also little to nothing in the way of character progression in this book. Lou starts the book as a murderous machine and ends it as a murderous machine that may be about to acknowledge she has feelings for more than just her Aunt. King is an alcoholic ex-cop who is really put through the emotional wringer in this novel, unfortunately he comes out the other side as an alcoholic ex-cop. Konstantine might be the kingpin of a well organised cadre of thieves, murderers and drug dealers but he is at least in touch with his emotions; sadly this doesn't give you much room for manoeuver with his character. There are then a few supporting artistes thrown in to the mix that have one character trait that defines them and that is it, all she wrote, so they feel cartoonish.
Whilst the ending is explosive and has a few surprises in it, I couldn't help but be reminded of the end of Scarface and it did have a set piece feel to it rather than a natural conclusion to this particular thread. There is a plenty of action and some touching downtime spent with Lucy but, on the whole I found it rather a frustrating read and was more than happy to just dip in and out of it.
By now I think we understand that when Lou moves in to a dark area she can transport herself to anywhere in the world she wants - and even to another world. At least once every chapter told from Lou's perspective we get retold this bit of information and it started to really, really irritate me. There is also little to nothing in the way of character progression in this book. Lou starts the book as a murderous machine and ends it as a murderous machine that may be about to acknowledge she has feelings for more than just her Aunt. King is an alcoholic ex-cop who is really put through the emotional wringer in this novel, unfortunately he comes out the other side as an alcoholic ex-cop. Konstantine might be the kingpin of a well organised cadre of thieves, murderers and drug dealers but he is at least in touch with his emotions; sadly this doesn't give you much room for manoeuver with his character. There are then a few supporting artistes thrown in to the mix that have one character trait that defines them and that is it, all she wrote, so they feel cartoonish.
Whilst the ending is explosive and has a few surprises in it, I couldn't help but be reminded of the end of Scarface and it did have a set piece feel to it rather than a natural conclusion to this particular thread. There is a plenty of action and some touching downtime spent with Lucy but, on the whole I found it rather a frustrating read and was more than happy to just dip in and out of it.
The Vine Witch by Luanne G Smith
3.5 Stars
This was a very odd book that seemed to have no particular setting - the clothing and lifestyles seemed to hint at medieval but then you would get a motor vehicle thrown in to the mix. Although we are told that the book is set in France there is no French flavour to it at all, it genuinely could have been set anywhere. In truth it was the actual timeline of the story that threw me off, it is pootling along quite nicely with almost a bucolic feel and then something glaringly "modern" raises its head and feels completely anachronistic.
I liked the idea of witches specialising in one flavour of magic - so you have vine witches that help with wine making, beer witches that help with brewing of ales, even baking witches that seem to exclusively work love spells. Of course you then have the dark side of all this and this means you need a magical police force - sound familiar? Although, the magical police force in this book are singularly inept and owe more to the Inquisitorial Squad than the Ministry Of Magic; you see where I'm going with the comparison. Of course this was always going to happen, any novel that has magic rooted in the real world is going to be compared to the tour de force that is the Potterverse.
There is a lot of telling in this book rather than showing. Now, a certain amount of this I don't mind as it can help move the plot along much more rapidly. Unfortunately, I still felt that the plot lacked tautness and time was spent dwelling on minutiae rather than getting to the point. This wasn't helped by the vast majority of characters, Elena excluded, were really only ciphers and were there because Elena needed someone to bounce off.
I did like the concept of the novel - cursed witch manages to break the curse after 7 long, lonely years and makes her way back home only to find the vine yard has been sold to someone who has no idea how to make wine let alone believe in witches. Fortunately her mentor and adoptive grandmother is still at the vineyard as a housekeeper and so starts Elena's journey to restore the vineyard and find the evil being who cursed her. There is a nice twist to the ending which I appreciated and the showdown in the cellars does have a genuine feeling of peril.
Overall this is a fun update on fairytales but it just needed a good sharp tug on the plot to tidy things up.
This was a very odd book that seemed to have no particular setting - the clothing and lifestyles seemed to hint at medieval but then you would get a motor vehicle thrown in to the mix. Although we are told that the book is set in France there is no French flavour to it at all, it genuinely could have been set anywhere. In truth it was the actual timeline of the story that threw me off, it is pootling along quite nicely with almost a bucolic feel and then something glaringly "modern" raises its head and feels completely anachronistic.
I liked the idea of witches specialising in one flavour of magic - so you have vine witches that help with wine making, beer witches that help with brewing of ales, even baking witches that seem to exclusively work love spells. Of course you then have the dark side of all this and this means you need a magical police force - sound familiar? Although, the magical police force in this book are singularly inept and owe more to the Inquisitorial Squad than the Ministry Of Magic; you see where I'm going with the comparison. Of course this was always going to happen, any novel that has magic rooted in the real world is going to be compared to the tour de force that is the Potterverse.
There is a lot of telling in this book rather than showing. Now, a certain amount of this I don't mind as it can help move the plot along much more rapidly. Unfortunately, I still felt that the plot lacked tautness and time was spent dwelling on minutiae rather than getting to the point. This wasn't helped by the vast majority of characters, Elena excluded, were really only ciphers and were there because Elena needed someone to bounce off.
I did like the concept of the novel - cursed witch manages to break the curse after 7 long, lonely years and makes her way back home only to find the vine yard has been sold to someone who has no idea how to make wine let alone believe in witches. Fortunately her mentor and adoptive grandmother is still at the vineyard as a housekeeper and so starts Elena's journey to restore the vineyard and find the evil being who cursed her. There is a nice twist to the ending which I appreciated and the showdown in the cellars does have a genuine feeling of peril.
Overall this is a fun update on fairytales but it just needed a good sharp tug on the plot to tidy things up.
Monday 11 November 2019
A Match Made in Devon by Cathy Bramley
I was surprisingly swept away by this book. It closely follows the genre formula but somehow the author manages to make you immune to that aspect of it and you do find yourself rooting for Nina. I think this is because Nina is both physically and emotionally clumsy and she feels real on the page. It helps that Brightside Cove is truly idyllic and chock full of eccentric characters but rather than becoming a parody of a rural village it feels vibrant and just real enough.
There is a lot going on in the book too. From Nina's burgeoning acting career, to a Mermaid School, setting up a Holiday Let business, saving a forlorn Lifeboat Shed and romance, plenty of romance. There are lots of cautionary tales here too - the fallout of celebrity, the loss of a child, the suppressing of your needs and wants to try and match up to family. Honestly, there are a lot of balls in the air here but the author manages to deal with them all particularly well. Unfortunately, it did feel like one or two strands too much at times.
It is definitely a fun book that made me smirk rather than laugh - particularly the scene in the Agent's office with Nina's arch-nemesis. The relationships in the book do have a tendency to feel forced rather organic at times and presented the odd stumbling block in my reading enjoyment.
On the whole it is fun, light and enjoyable. Beware though, you will find yourself staying up just that little bit later than you should or missing your commute stop as it does suck you in to the world. For once it is a world where the tide DOES come in!
There is a lot going on in the book too. From Nina's burgeoning acting career, to a Mermaid School, setting up a Holiday Let business, saving a forlorn Lifeboat Shed and romance, plenty of romance. There are lots of cautionary tales here too - the fallout of celebrity, the loss of a child, the suppressing of your needs and wants to try and match up to family. Honestly, there are a lot of balls in the air here but the author manages to deal with them all particularly well. Unfortunately, it did feel like one or two strands too much at times.
It is definitely a fun book that made me smirk rather than laugh - particularly the scene in the Agent's office with Nina's arch-nemesis. The relationships in the book do have a tendency to feel forced rather organic at times and presented the odd stumbling block in my reading enjoyment.
On the whole it is fun, light and enjoyable. Beware though, you will find yourself staying up just that little bit later than you should or missing your commute stop as it does suck you in to the world. For once it is a world where the tide DOES come in!
Your Perfect Year by Charlotte Lucas, Alison Layland (Translator)
First things first, the translator did a pretty good job with this one. I have studied just enough German to know that their sentence structures and speech patterns do not lend themselves well to translating to English. This does sometimes show in the dialogue between characters as you can tell something has been lost along the way. On the whole though the prose has been handled well and you never feel like the translator is overshadowing the author's intention.
My real problem with this was the characters, I just couldn't warm to either Hannah or Jonathan - which is a real problem as the book is split fairly evenly between their two tales. Of the two Jonathan is the less facile of the two and the one that genuinely goes on a "personal journey". In the early sections he comes across as old before his time and constrained by his routines; even worse he is paralysed by inactivity. Hannah however is just downright annoying, she isn't peppy and genuinely life affirming she just needs a good slap as it all feels so fake and forced.
The plot sort of drifts along with no sense of urgency and there is a nasty tendency for tell rather than show to creep in. Don't tell me how Jonathan feels about his father and his legacy - show me. That's the real problem with the book rather than narration by our two main characters we have constructed monologues and it did leave me with the sense I was being dictated too rather a chat between friends (and the best books are a dialogue between reader and narrator).
Unfortunately, this felt more like a decade than a year. It just all takes so long to go anywhere and by the time it does interest had sadly waned. The story itself is 2 Stars but I popped an extra one in there for the non-distracting translation.
My real problem with this was the characters, I just couldn't warm to either Hannah or Jonathan - which is a real problem as the book is split fairly evenly between their two tales. Of the two Jonathan is the less facile of the two and the one that genuinely goes on a "personal journey". In the early sections he comes across as old before his time and constrained by his routines; even worse he is paralysed by inactivity. Hannah however is just downright annoying, she isn't peppy and genuinely life affirming she just needs a good slap as it all feels so fake and forced.
The plot sort of drifts along with no sense of urgency and there is a nasty tendency for tell rather than show to creep in. Don't tell me how Jonathan feels about his father and his legacy - show me. That's the real problem with the book rather than narration by our two main characters we have constructed monologues and it did leave me with the sense I was being dictated too rather a chat between friends (and the best books are a dialogue between reader and narrator).
Unfortunately, this felt more like a decade than a year. It just all takes so long to go anywhere and by the time it does interest had sadly waned. The story itself is 2 Stars but I popped an extra one in there for the non-distracting translation.
Shopaholic Abroad by Sophie Kinsella
3.5 Stars
This novel sort of hit the spot but sort of missed it as well. It was certainly nowhere near as fun as the first in the series and, I will readily admit, I am now a little worried about the further books (and I have bought the first 9). In it's defence the character is the same scatty Rebecca Bloomwood we came to know and love in the first book BUT her reckless spending feels over exaggerated in this book. The character is also less empathetic this time around. I think that for this reader it was because she only identifies her self through purchases and through Luke; she is far less self aware. Hopefully this is because her head is turned by the fawning Production Companies and that she is believing the lines they are feeding her.
The plot is carefully thought through and the city setting of New York has been well researched - well, in so far as a shopping mad tourist would research it anyway. You do feel you are following Rebecca on this journey but there are some inconsistencies and sections where you have to suspend belief to avoid throwing it across the room. The whole sub-plot relating to Luke's PR business drove me to distraction. Particularly because I could not fathom how Rebecca could be so completely clueless over what was clearly going on.
The other thing that is starting to grate are the letters from those she owes scads of money too - store cards, credit cards and her bank overdraft. Obviously I missed some life lesson somewhere where your creditors treat you like a person - trust me I have the experience (as many have) that they really don't. Her debt is treated as somehow "cute" and 2 books in this is starting to aggravate me - not a good sign when the whole series is predicated on this theory.
I'm also not committed to the relationship between Rebecca and Luke. It feels forced on the page and very much like they are both settling for someone, anyone.
Makes you wonder why I keep reading doesn't it? The truth is that they are pacy, fun and take you out of what can be a boring and humdrum world.
This novel sort of hit the spot but sort of missed it as well. It was certainly nowhere near as fun as the first in the series and, I will readily admit, I am now a little worried about the further books (and I have bought the first 9). In it's defence the character is the same scatty Rebecca Bloomwood we came to know and love in the first book BUT her reckless spending feels over exaggerated in this book. The character is also less empathetic this time around. I think that for this reader it was because she only identifies her self through purchases and through Luke; she is far less self aware. Hopefully this is because her head is turned by the fawning Production Companies and that she is believing the lines they are feeding her.
The plot is carefully thought through and the city setting of New York has been well researched - well, in so far as a shopping mad tourist would research it anyway. You do feel you are following Rebecca on this journey but there are some inconsistencies and sections where you have to suspend belief to avoid throwing it across the room. The whole sub-plot relating to Luke's PR business drove me to distraction. Particularly because I could not fathom how Rebecca could be so completely clueless over what was clearly going on.
The other thing that is starting to grate are the letters from those she owes scads of money too - store cards, credit cards and her bank overdraft. Obviously I missed some life lesson somewhere where your creditors treat you like a person - trust me I have the experience (as many have) that they really don't. Her debt is treated as somehow "cute" and 2 books in this is starting to aggravate me - not a good sign when the whole series is predicated on this theory.
I'm also not committed to the relationship between Rebecca and Luke. It feels forced on the page and very much like they are both settling for someone, anyone.
Makes you wonder why I keep reading doesn't it? The truth is that they are pacy, fun and take you out of what can be a boring and humdrum world.
Popcorn by Ben Elton
The whole backbone of the book is the discussion of whether violence in movies propogates violence in real life. In Popcorn [1996] Ben Elton tries to juxtapose an Oscar winning Director's violent movie with the actions of a modern day Bonnie and Clyde who are terrorising the country.
The real problem I have with it are twofold:
1. The two plot lines are all a bit Pulp Fiction [1992] meets Reservoir Dogs [1994], but just the violent bits; there's none of the subtlety evident in the two movies. So much so, I started to think of Quentin Tarantino everytime we were in Bruce's (the fictional director) presence and as for our Natural Born Killers [1994] (yes, the throw back to the movie plot is deliberate - especially as it is a Tarantino story) I found myself thinking of Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer (as opposed to Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis).
I can understand why there are similarities but it did feel as though the plot was lifted directly from these films.
2. The deliberate blurring of whether what we were being shown was real or fictional. Particularly towards the end of the book, there is deliberate blurring of whether this is all scripted and being acted out on a sound stage or if it is really happening. Unfortunately, it is clumsily executed so rather than being a deft tool it turns in to using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
The facile nature of fame is well executed in the tale though and I did enjoy that. Whether it is the red carpet phonys before and after the Oscar ceremony or the breathless media reporting of yet another atrocity. Unfortunately, it never manages to open the dialogue that it intends to (as all Mr Elton's novels are intended to) as it just owes too much to what has gone so recently before and his influences are definitely showing in this one. Maybe it would have been more impactful had I read it closer to release time when the media was full of scare stories but somehow I doubt it.
Despite the subject matter it is a jolly enough read - if you don't mind blood, guts and gore aplenty. There are some reasonable character studies within the pages - especially Bruce and the downtrodden sidekick. Ultimately though it falls very short of the mark.
The real problem I have with it are twofold:
1. The two plot lines are all a bit Pulp Fiction [1992] meets Reservoir Dogs [1994], but just the violent bits; there's none of the subtlety evident in the two movies. So much so, I started to think of Quentin Tarantino everytime we were in Bruce's (the fictional director) presence and as for our Natural Born Killers [1994] (yes, the throw back to the movie plot is deliberate - especially as it is a Tarantino story) I found myself thinking of Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer (as opposed to Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis).
I can understand why there are similarities but it did feel as though the plot was lifted directly from these films.
2. The deliberate blurring of whether what we were being shown was real or fictional. Particularly towards the end of the book, there is deliberate blurring of whether this is all scripted and being acted out on a sound stage or if it is really happening. Unfortunately, it is clumsily executed so rather than being a deft tool it turns in to using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
The facile nature of fame is well executed in the tale though and I did enjoy that. Whether it is the red carpet phonys before and after the Oscar ceremony or the breathless media reporting of yet another atrocity. Unfortunately, it never manages to open the dialogue that it intends to (as all Mr Elton's novels are intended to) as it just owes too much to what has gone so recently before and his influences are definitely showing in this one. Maybe it would have been more impactful had I read it closer to release time when the media was full of scare stories but somehow I doubt it.
Despite the subject matter it is a jolly enough read - if you don't mind blood, guts and gore aplenty. There are some reasonable character studies within the pages - especially Bruce and the downtrodden sidekick. Ultimately though it falls very short of the mark.
Friday 8 November 2019
Coming Home to Winter Island by Jo Thomas
This is your fairly standard chic lit novel. Heroine (in this case Ruby MacQuarrie) suffers a drastic blow (this one is a singer who loses her voice) and moves far from home (to arrange for her elderly, estranged Grandfather's house to be sold off so he can go in to care) but finds herself and a little romance along the way. Yes, it's one of "those" stories but there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. There is something comforting about knowing when you pick up a book that everything will work out just wonderfully in the end before you have even read the first page.
My real problem was this one was that I couldn't really warm to Ruby. The character just felt superficial throughout the story, especially when compared to Lachlan and Hector who despite how little depth they really had (being rather predictably brooding and enigmatic in the former case and just a collection of dementia systems in the latter) were far more interesting and intriguing. The real star of the story is the eponymous Winter Island and it's abundant flora and fauna - even if it does all get more than a bit "Whisky Galore" at times.
The plot does tend to circle itself several times with Ruby's monologue repeating itself; especially her worries about her voice, her worries about her boyfriend Joe and the problems of trying to resurrect the Gin distillery. I did find myself skim reading some sections as they brought nothing new to the story, just rehashed what the reader already knew for a page or two. Even worse was how long it took them to figure out the fifth and final special ingredient for the gin, I was all but screeching it by the time Ruby figured it out.
The least said about the Tea Party and the descending helicopter the better. Completely out of character with the rest of the book and broke what little credibility the story had clung to by this point.
A decent enough read for when you have an hour or so to curl up with a brew and a biccie and want a light, unchallenging read. It certainly won't keep you from watching your favourite TV show or staying up past your normal bedtime.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK PROVIDED BY THE PUBLISHER.
My real problem was this one was that I couldn't really warm to Ruby. The character just felt superficial throughout the story, especially when compared to Lachlan and Hector who despite how little depth they really had (being rather predictably brooding and enigmatic in the former case and just a collection of dementia systems in the latter) were far more interesting and intriguing. The real star of the story is the eponymous Winter Island and it's abundant flora and fauna - even if it does all get more than a bit "Whisky Galore" at times.
The plot does tend to circle itself several times with Ruby's monologue repeating itself; especially her worries about her voice, her worries about her boyfriend Joe and the problems of trying to resurrect the Gin distillery. I did find myself skim reading some sections as they brought nothing new to the story, just rehashed what the reader already knew for a page or two. Even worse was how long it took them to figure out the fifth and final special ingredient for the gin, I was all but screeching it by the time Ruby figured it out.
The least said about the Tea Party and the descending helicopter the better. Completely out of character with the rest of the book and broke what little credibility the story had clung to by this point.
A decent enough read for when you have an hour or so to curl up with a brew and a biccie and want a light, unchallenging read. It certainly won't keep you from watching your favourite TV show or staying up past your normal bedtime.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK PROVIDED BY THE PUBLISHER.
Blood In The Dust by Bill Swiggs
This isn't really my genre of novel and isn't something that I would have necessarily picked to read. The blurb is appealing and it gives a sense of a "sweeping saga" dealing with the trials and tribulations of the O'Rourke boys after the senseless murder of their parents by an outlaw. It's maybe not as sweeping as the author perhaps intended (or as the publishing house think) but it is a good, solid tale.
My problem with it was it took so long for anything to really get going. Initially the story is told from three perspectives - the O'Rourke brothers, the outlaw Anderson and his native guide Chilbi and the Hocking family. I really, really struggled with the early chapters of this book. Once the murder of the O'Rourke parents takes place it all becomes a bit flat and keeps digressing to following Anderson's party which I just wanted to skip past. The sections dealing with the Hockings' Family arriving were interesting but very short lived. To be honest they were what kept me reading whilst I waited for them to somehow to hook up with the O'Rourkes in the hope that things would improve.
It does get better from that point, but I did feel like the build up to it went on too long. The descriptions of the gold miner's life are vivid and you can almost feel the choking dust and grabbing mud. Sadly, the personal angle is rather clumsily dealt with and the burgeoning romance is ever so slightly cringy. However, this is overshadowed by the weaving in of an actual historical fact; the Eureka Rebellion of 1854.
The plot does move at a decent pace, once you get past the first 110 or so pages (so just under a third of the book). The characters are solid and believable with a good depth to them. The author also manages to bring in the plight of the Aboriginal people who were not only displaced by colonisation but were also decimated by diseases that the white man brought with him. This is done subtly and in such a way that you feel for Chilbi and his two brothers, the only survivors of their remote tribe, without beating you over the head with the atrocities that were perpetrated on the indigenous peoples.
Overall it is very much a slow burner of a book but it is a solid tale, told reasonably well.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK PROVIDED BY READERS FIRST.
My problem with it was it took so long for anything to really get going. Initially the story is told from three perspectives - the O'Rourke brothers, the outlaw Anderson and his native guide Chilbi and the Hocking family. I really, really struggled with the early chapters of this book. Once the murder of the O'Rourke parents takes place it all becomes a bit flat and keeps digressing to following Anderson's party which I just wanted to skip past. The sections dealing with the Hockings' Family arriving were interesting but very short lived. To be honest they were what kept me reading whilst I waited for them to somehow to hook up with the O'Rourkes in the hope that things would improve.
It does get better from that point, but I did feel like the build up to it went on too long. The descriptions of the gold miner's life are vivid and you can almost feel the choking dust and grabbing mud. Sadly, the personal angle is rather clumsily dealt with and the burgeoning romance is ever so slightly cringy. However, this is overshadowed by the weaving in of an actual historical fact; the Eureka Rebellion of 1854.
The plot does move at a decent pace, once you get past the first 110 or so pages (so just under a third of the book). The characters are solid and believable with a good depth to them. The author also manages to bring in the plight of the Aboriginal people who were not only displaced by colonisation but were also decimated by diseases that the white man brought with him. This is done subtly and in such a way that you feel for Chilbi and his two brothers, the only survivors of their remote tribe, without beating you over the head with the atrocities that were perpetrated on the indigenous peoples.
Overall it is very much a slow burner of a book but it is a solid tale, told reasonably well.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK PROVIDED BY READERS FIRST.
The Titanic Sisters by Patricia Falvey
3.5 Stars
This is a fairly solid novel and I enjoyed it enough that I read it in a day. However, it couldn't help but bring to mind the film Brooklyn - especially the yellow dress and the Saturday night dances. Only a tiny bit of the book but it did overshadow things for me a little bit and meant that no matter what happened I kept looking for other parallels with the film. The problem being that both tell the tale of Irish Immigrants to New York and to do so believably they need to draw on the same source material for historical accuracy which means that there was always going to be some overlap.
I also found that there was an air of unreality to some of the situations the characters found themselves in. Whether for dramatic effect or just simply because imagination ran way with us and got the better of editorial sanity it was all a bit superficial and far fetched. Characters also held little in the way of interest as they never really reveal themselves properly on the page. Yes, there is change for both Delia and Nora but they almost seem to swap characters so this seems to negate any character development. Supporting cast are either good or bad with little nuance to them.
What really got me though was towards the end of the book when Nora proves herself to be an excellent business woman and negotiator. I really, really struggle to believe that pre- First World War Texan men would actually deal with a woman for business matters this important. It simply feels too many shades of wrong, no matter how many pains the author goes through to tell us how very, very relaxed Texan society is compared to Ireland or even New York. Throw in a will-they-won't-they romance. A chance of business ruin and some dastardly dealings. All underpinned by a family life that destabilised the sister's relationship due to an all but silent father and a controlling shrew of a mother. You just know you are going to get the happiest of endings before you have got more than a handful of pages in.
All that said I did find myself enjoying the story. I just went with it and decided just to enjoy it as a yarn and nothing more. The plot moves quickly and covers 4 years, or so, of the Sisters Sweeney's lives. From their separation after the sinking of the Titanic and their ultimate reconnection on the oilfields of Texas a LOT happens, and yet it really doesn't. Somehow events are underplayed at the expense of relating the character's emotions that the tension is dissipated and although enjoying the read I wasn't really that bothered at the outcome.
Very strange one this, it read well without actually involving me or making me care about the characters.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK SUPPLIED BY READERS FIRST.
This is a fairly solid novel and I enjoyed it enough that I read it in a day. However, it couldn't help but bring to mind the film Brooklyn - especially the yellow dress and the Saturday night dances. Only a tiny bit of the book but it did overshadow things for me a little bit and meant that no matter what happened I kept looking for other parallels with the film. The problem being that both tell the tale of Irish Immigrants to New York and to do so believably they need to draw on the same source material for historical accuracy which means that there was always going to be some overlap.
I also found that there was an air of unreality to some of the situations the characters found themselves in. Whether for dramatic effect or just simply because imagination ran way with us and got the better of editorial sanity it was all a bit superficial and far fetched. Characters also held little in the way of interest as they never really reveal themselves properly on the page. Yes, there is change for both Delia and Nora but they almost seem to swap characters so this seems to negate any character development. Supporting cast are either good or bad with little nuance to them.
What really got me though was towards the end of the book when Nora proves herself to be an excellent business woman and negotiator. I really, really struggle to believe that pre- First World War Texan men would actually deal with a woman for business matters this important. It simply feels too many shades of wrong, no matter how many pains the author goes through to tell us how very, very relaxed Texan society is compared to Ireland or even New York. Throw in a will-they-won't-they romance. A chance of business ruin and some dastardly dealings. All underpinned by a family life that destabilised the sister's relationship due to an all but silent father and a controlling shrew of a mother. You just know you are going to get the happiest of endings before you have got more than a handful of pages in.
All that said I did find myself enjoying the story. I just went with it and decided just to enjoy it as a yarn and nothing more. The plot moves quickly and covers 4 years, or so, of the Sisters Sweeney's lives. From their separation after the sinking of the Titanic and their ultimate reconnection on the oilfields of Texas a LOT happens, and yet it really doesn't. Somehow events are underplayed at the expense of relating the character's emotions that the tension is dissipated and although enjoying the read I wasn't really that bothered at the outcome.
Very strange one this, it read well without actually involving me or making me care about the characters.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK SUPPLIED BY READERS FIRST.
17 Church Row by James Carol
1.5 Stars
On the face of things this book starts out as a fairly standard psychological thriller. Once close family shattered by a terrible event in the past and they are now trying to pull the threads together and start again. Because this is a wealthy family they decide to move to a state of the art home whose main selling point seems to be a Koi fish pond right outside a bedroom and a fully integrated "smart speaker" system (think Alexa on steroids).
The problems for me start with the family themselves. Despite all they have been through I just couldn't dredge any empathy at all up for them. Because Bella is mute after the tragedy you never really get to know her and as she is always drawn in comparison to her loss you never really get to think of her any other way. This dilutes anything you may have felt for the little girl and her undoubted PTSD. Then you have Nikki who is pretty much self-absorbed and although she talks a LOT about only being there for her daughter it is always couched in the ways in which it affects her. Ethan is pretty much absorbed by his career and that seems to take centre stage in his life whenever he manages to pop up in the book. Basically pretty much a 1950s family set up that felt incredibly alien these days.
The whole thing just felt incredibly clunky and poorly executed. The plot is extremely straightforward and the only thing that you really have to keep your brain ticking over for is which of the support cast has been given a little starring role this time, in deed they may even have been given a whole chapter.
When you first start reading this book, the first thing you think is that Alice sounds awfully like HAL. Sadly, once you have made that link in your brain it is really hard to shake it off and although the author goes through a lot of hoops to misdirect the reader and tries clever narrative tricks to distract you from this thought it is always there. This really does prevent any real enjoyment of the book because that thought is in your mind the whole way through and it, ultimately, diffuses any attempt at building tension or distracting the reader from what is, undoubtedly, supposed to be a shocking revelation.
To be perfectly honest I feel like the author was trying to snatch up the mantle of Michael Crichton and write about something that is scientifically possible if not entirely plausible and then run it to it's most extreme conclusion. Unfortunately, where Mr Crichton had impeccable research behind him that made you think "hmmm, you know what..." this felt like the only research done in to the field of A.I. was reading a manufacturer's blurb for a smart speaker system.
Although I hate to be scathing, it really was great for getting me off to sleep.
On the face of things this book starts out as a fairly standard psychological thriller. Once close family shattered by a terrible event in the past and they are now trying to pull the threads together and start again. Because this is a wealthy family they decide to move to a state of the art home whose main selling point seems to be a Koi fish pond right outside a bedroom and a fully integrated "smart speaker" system (think Alexa on steroids).
The problems for me start with the family themselves. Despite all they have been through I just couldn't dredge any empathy at all up for them. Because Bella is mute after the tragedy you never really get to know her and as she is always drawn in comparison to her loss you never really get to think of her any other way. This dilutes anything you may have felt for the little girl and her undoubted PTSD. Then you have Nikki who is pretty much self-absorbed and although she talks a LOT about only being there for her daughter it is always couched in the ways in which it affects her. Ethan is pretty much absorbed by his career and that seems to take centre stage in his life whenever he manages to pop up in the book. Basically pretty much a 1950s family set up that felt incredibly alien these days.
The whole thing just felt incredibly clunky and poorly executed. The plot is extremely straightforward and the only thing that you really have to keep your brain ticking over for is which of the support cast has been given a little starring role this time, in deed they may even have been given a whole chapter.
When you first start reading this book, the first thing you think is that Alice sounds awfully like HAL. Sadly, once you have made that link in your brain it is really hard to shake it off and although the author goes through a lot of hoops to misdirect the reader and tries clever narrative tricks to distract you from this thought it is always there. This really does prevent any real enjoyment of the book because that thought is in your mind the whole way through and it, ultimately, diffuses any attempt at building tension or distracting the reader from what is, undoubtedly, supposed to be a shocking revelation.
To be perfectly honest I feel like the author was trying to snatch up the mantle of Michael Crichton and write about something that is scientifically possible if not entirely plausible and then run it to it's most extreme conclusion. Unfortunately, where Mr Crichton had impeccable research behind him that made you think "hmmm, you know what..." this felt like the only research done in to the field of A.I. was reading a manufacturer's blurb for a smart speaker system.
Although I hate to be scathing, it really was great for getting me off to sleep.
Wednesday 6 November 2019
A Country Escape by Katie Fforde
Okay, so as soon as I started reading this book I realised that this set in a completely fictional universe where only good things can happen. Well, not ONLY good things but even the bad lead to something good happening. So, I decided to just give myself over to the genre and go with it, leave the brain comfortably ensconced somewhere else and just read for the pleasure of being told a story without those critical muttered comments from the reality demon that lurks in the old grey matter. So glad I did as it meant I got to enjoy a wonderfully gentle, naive tale set in a weird 1950s-esque parallel world.
To be entirely honest I can't remember too much about the story, in my defence I did finish reading it about a month before reviewing it. What I do remember is how much of a smile it put on my face and how enjoyable it was to curl up and sink in to Ms Fforde's world - even I did only have 15 minutes to spare. I also put a 4 against in my reading notebook so I definitely enjoyed it.
What did stick with me was how very peculiar the whole premise of the book was - elderly lady is in ill health and has to find someone to bequeath the family farm to so she arranges to go in to a Nursing Home for 6 months and get the beneficiary in to see how they go about running the farm. Of course, the closest relative she can find doesn't reply to her letters so she moves down the line and happens upon a distant niece who just so happens to be in a dark place in her personal life and jumps at the chance. Of course, she has no knowledge of farming so there are plenty of opportunities for pratfalls there. Of course, the vaguely nearer and male relative turns up and moves in to the farm as well (as they do). Throw in a years old animosity with the neighbouring farm and you have the necessary mixture to create misunderstandings, deliberate scupperings and , of course, plenty of romance.
Quite honestly, there is nothing vaguely realistic here; even the characters are pretty much two dimensional and either good or bad with little nuance inbetween. However, if you in the mood for being entertained on a wet afternoon and don't want to necessarily engage your critical facilities then you are going to have a blast with this one. It is fun and strangely endearing - a bit like the 1970s Sunday evening TV viewing, cosy and familiar.
To be entirely honest I can't remember too much about the story, in my defence I did finish reading it about a month before reviewing it. What I do remember is how much of a smile it put on my face and how enjoyable it was to curl up and sink in to Ms Fforde's world - even I did only have 15 minutes to spare. I also put a 4 against in my reading notebook so I definitely enjoyed it.
What did stick with me was how very peculiar the whole premise of the book was - elderly lady is in ill health and has to find someone to bequeath the family farm to so she arranges to go in to a Nursing Home for 6 months and get the beneficiary in to see how they go about running the farm. Of course, the closest relative she can find doesn't reply to her letters so she moves down the line and happens upon a distant niece who just so happens to be in a dark place in her personal life and jumps at the chance. Of course, she has no knowledge of farming so there are plenty of opportunities for pratfalls there. Of course, the vaguely nearer and male relative turns up and moves in to the farm as well (as they do). Throw in a years old animosity with the neighbouring farm and you have the necessary mixture to create misunderstandings, deliberate scupperings and , of course, plenty of romance.
Quite honestly, there is nothing vaguely realistic here; even the characters are pretty much two dimensional and either good or bad with little nuance inbetween. However, if you in the mood for being entertained on a wet afternoon and don't want to necessarily engage your critical facilities then you are going to have a blast with this one. It is fun and strangely endearing - a bit like the 1970s Sunday evening TV viewing, cosy and familiar.
Tempting Fate by Jane Green
3.5 Stars
Temptation is dangerous and acting on that temptation is downright stupid, especially for Gabby. Somehow though you can't help but think she knew exactly what she was doing and what the ramifications could be. So much of the build up is pent giving us the impression of a bored housewife who is longing for another child but her husband has taken this option away from her by unilaterally deciding to get a vasectomy. It is clear that something is wrong in the marriage, something that neither party is willing to admit - they have slipped in to that comfortable stage where it is all too easy to take the other party for granted. When Gabby takes the bait and becomes emotionally invested in a much younger man you kind of know where this is going to go and, unfortunately, it does.
The writing is undoubtedly deft and there is a clear emotional understanding of the characters, it just all felt a little predictable and then the ending was, for me, completely fantastical. The pacing of the story is good with a strong narrative flow that does keep the reader engaged (even when your brain has already more or less figured out the plot and the ultimate outcome with a couple of hundred pages to go). Ms Green is undoubtedly skillful in engaging the reader and keeping you interested and engaged - even if the storyline leaves you scoffing with incredulity.
Normally this dichotomy would leave me feeling confused but it is something I have come to expect from this author and I am pretty sure that my enjoyment in her novels come from the construction of the story rather than the content. Her characterisations are always richly layered, even if the characters behave in ways that feel alien to the world that I have, and continue to, experience. The plotlines are not always realistic either but it is, nevertheless, fun immersing yourself in these familiar and yet alien worlds.
A fun and light read that entertains.
Temptation is dangerous and acting on that temptation is downright stupid, especially for Gabby. Somehow though you can't help but think she knew exactly what she was doing and what the ramifications could be. So much of the build up is pent giving us the impression of a bored housewife who is longing for another child but her husband has taken this option away from her by unilaterally deciding to get a vasectomy. It is clear that something is wrong in the marriage, something that neither party is willing to admit - they have slipped in to that comfortable stage where it is all too easy to take the other party for granted. When Gabby takes the bait and becomes emotionally invested in a much younger man you kind of know where this is going to go and, unfortunately, it does.
The writing is undoubtedly deft and there is a clear emotional understanding of the characters, it just all felt a little predictable and then the ending was, for me, completely fantastical. The pacing of the story is good with a strong narrative flow that does keep the reader engaged (even when your brain has already more or less figured out the plot and the ultimate outcome with a couple of hundred pages to go). Ms Green is undoubtedly skillful in engaging the reader and keeping you interested and engaged - even if the storyline leaves you scoffing with incredulity.
Normally this dichotomy would leave me feeling confused but it is something I have come to expect from this author and I am pretty sure that my enjoyment in her novels come from the construction of the story rather than the content. Her characterisations are always richly layered, even if the characters behave in ways that feel alien to the world that I have, and continue to, experience. The plotlines are not always realistic either but it is, nevertheless, fun immersing yourself in these familiar and yet alien worlds.
A fun and light read that entertains.
Sunday 3 November 2019
Deadline by Craig McLay
This novel was surprisingly bitty, none of the smoothness that I have come to expect from the author. This isn't helped by multiple narrators so I never really felt that I got to "know" any of the characters. The storyline falls, just about, in to a supernatural thriller category but it never really got off the ground for me; probably because his influences were showing.
The best thing I can say about it is that once the setting and the main players have been established it moves along at a cracking pace - if you make it past the first 20% or so of the book it becomes a roller coaster ride of revelations and brutal murders. Unfortunately by that point I had already realised that I wasn't going to really care about how this worked out so I was just following on for the set pieces. There are some lavishly gruesome ones but it all felt a little more like a screenplay than an actual novel and I can't pin down why.
I usually love this author but this one left me wanting more. In it's own twisted way it was fun to read but I'm not breathlessly waiting to get my hands on the sequel.
The best thing I can say about it is that once the setting and the main players have been established it moves along at a cracking pace - if you make it past the first 20% or so of the book it becomes a roller coaster ride of revelations and brutal murders. Unfortunately by that point I had already realised that I wasn't going to really care about how this worked out so I was just following on for the set pieces. There are some lavishly gruesome ones but it all felt a little more like a screenplay than an actual novel and I can't pin down why.
I usually love this author but this one left me wanting more. In it's own twisted way it was fun to read but I'm not breathlessly waiting to get my hands on the sequel.
The Extra by Megan Walker and Janci Patterson
3.5 Stars
I actually really enjoyed this book, although it did feel like a guilty pleasure at times. It emulates the very daytime soaps that it is, in many ways, parodying. With plotlines that stretch credulity and characters that have either so many faces that you wonder if they have a multiple personality disorder or have just one stereotypical one. Honestly, it is a daytime soap in paged format.
Our lead character is Gabby and she is a mess - physically clumsy, emotionally shuttered and add on a dose of middle child syndrome and there you have Gabby. Somehow the authors made this work and whether it is her love for all things carb-y and calorific in an image obsessed town or her voice you do find yourself enjoying spending time with this character. This is happen as well as she is our narrator. She really does get put through the wringer in this book though - from family disasters (parental and fraternal), dating woes, career set backs it all happens to poor ole Gabby.
The plot is straight from the soaps though and has that overblown pseudo-reality to it, but it works. It is honestly amusing and told in such a chatty style that you can't help but become engaged and find yourself thoroughly enjoying your time spent with the book. That said, I never really got invested in the situations that Gabby found herself in as you know all the way through that somehow things will work out for her and those she cares about.
I have noticed that there are several books in this series but as much fun as I found this one I'm not invested enough to read on and I think the breathless skipping from disaster to disaster was fine for one book but could well send me loopy if I read more.
Fun and frothy but ultimately disposable - perfect holiday read.
I actually really enjoyed this book, although it did feel like a guilty pleasure at times. It emulates the very daytime soaps that it is, in many ways, parodying. With plotlines that stretch credulity and characters that have either so many faces that you wonder if they have a multiple personality disorder or have just one stereotypical one. Honestly, it is a daytime soap in paged format.
Our lead character is Gabby and she is a mess - physically clumsy, emotionally shuttered and add on a dose of middle child syndrome and there you have Gabby. Somehow the authors made this work and whether it is her love for all things carb-y and calorific in an image obsessed town or her voice you do find yourself enjoying spending time with this character. This is happen as well as she is our narrator. She really does get put through the wringer in this book though - from family disasters (parental and fraternal), dating woes, career set backs it all happens to poor ole Gabby.
The plot is straight from the soaps though and has that overblown pseudo-reality to it, but it works. It is honestly amusing and told in such a chatty style that you can't help but become engaged and find yourself thoroughly enjoying your time spent with the book. That said, I never really got invested in the situations that Gabby found herself in as you know all the way through that somehow things will work out for her and those she cares about.
I have noticed that there are several books in this series but as much fun as I found this one I'm not invested enough to read on and I think the breathless skipping from disaster to disaster was fine for one book but could well send me loopy if I read more.
Fun and frothy but ultimately disposable - perfect holiday read.
Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris
Midnight is a town that doesn't even have one horse, and you just know there isn't even a blinking stoplight at that crossroads. It is just that small. Unfortunately, considering the denizens of the town you would have thought that they and the story would be larger than life but no, everything is small and contained and sadly quite pedestrian. My judgement may have been coloured by the TV Series, I caught that on catch up here in the UK and it was truly bingeworthy and led me to buy the books - to be honest I wish I'd just stuck with the TV show.
There's nothing wrong with the book per se, it just all feels so slow and small. Each character felt so flat and lifeless after their small screen counterparts had been met. Lemuel and Olivia are perhaps the best exponents of this, their on screen realisation gives them both a brooding air of menace that just isn't apparent in the novel. At least we get to find out, via Manfred, exactly what shade of different Lemuel is and make no mistake everyone here in Midnight is a little different. Fiji is loud and proud about her differences right from the beginning so there is no mystery there but by the end of the first book everyone else is just a varying degree of peculiar with no reveal. The problem is by the time I got to the end of the book I found I didn't really care too much.
I also found that I could not stir up any real interest in the cast and their various predicaments. Indeed, where it not for having watched the TV Series I would be hard pushed to remember any names at all, ridiculous as some of them are - Bobo, seriously! The best written character, for me, was The Rev. His secret is well hidden and he comes across as a tortured soul who is trying his best to make amends for past indiscretions, he really did work well in the book.
The plot wasn't enough to salvage the book from mediocrity either. The disappearance of Audrey and the ramifications from that are handled well and do manage to drum up some tension - the resolution of it is a mere damp squib though. Considering what the resolution is this is a surprise but it just doesn't quite work. The parallel story of Bobo and his family's links to some less than salubrious groups just seems completely outrageous and unlikely. Add to that the weakest fizzle out of a storyline I have seen in some time and it becomes an exercise in eye rolling.
I should have known that this would be a disappointing read of a wonderful idea. Why? Simply put the Harper Connolly series never managed to capture my imagination so that stopped at the first book and the Sookie Stackhouse series got progressively more and more bizarre so that by the time I was 5 or 6 books deep I was reading more for the ridiculous situations than anything else. Unfortunately Ms Harris seems to be an author that comes up with some fantastic ideas but then manages to dilute them in their execution.
I have given this 3 Stars mainly because I am aware that I have been comparing this to the TV Series all the way through and that I may have allowed that to colour my impressions of the novel. Honestly I think I gave this book 1 Star just because I felt sorry that it didn't match up to what followed.
There's nothing wrong with the book per se, it just all feels so slow and small. Each character felt so flat and lifeless after their small screen counterparts had been met. Lemuel and Olivia are perhaps the best exponents of this, their on screen realisation gives them both a brooding air of menace that just isn't apparent in the novel. At least we get to find out, via Manfred, exactly what shade of different Lemuel is and make no mistake everyone here in Midnight is a little different. Fiji is loud and proud about her differences right from the beginning so there is no mystery there but by the end of the first book everyone else is just a varying degree of peculiar with no reveal. The problem is by the time I got to the end of the book I found I didn't really care too much.
I also found that I could not stir up any real interest in the cast and their various predicaments. Indeed, where it not for having watched the TV Series I would be hard pushed to remember any names at all, ridiculous as some of them are - Bobo, seriously! The best written character, for me, was The Rev. His secret is well hidden and he comes across as a tortured soul who is trying his best to make amends for past indiscretions, he really did work well in the book.
The plot wasn't enough to salvage the book from mediocrity either. The disappearance of Audrey and the ramifications from that are handled well and do manage to drum up some tension - the resolution of it is a mere damp squib though. Considering what the resolution is this is a surprise but it just doesn't quite work. The parallel story of Bobo and his family's links to some less than salubrious groups just seems completely outrageous and unlikely. Add to that the weakest fizzle out of a storyline I have seen in some time and it becomes an exercise in eye rolling.
I should have known that this would be a disappointing read of a wonderful idea. Why? Simply put the Harper Connolly series never managed to capture my imagination so that stopped at the first book and the Sookie Stackhouse series got progressively more and more bizarre so that by the time I was 5 or 6 books deep I was reading more for the ridiculous situations than anything else. Unfortunately Ms Harris seems to be an author that comes up with some fantastic ideas but then manages to dilute them in their execution.
I have given this 3 Stars mainly because I am aware that I have been comparing this to the TV Series all the way through and that I may have allowed that to colour my impressions of the novel. Honestly I think I gave this book 1 Star just because I felt sorry that it didn't match up to what followed.
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