3.5 Stars
In the interest of full disclosure I think I would probably have enjoyed this book a lot more if I hadn't read Caroline Kepnes' You first. It has a very similar feel to it and has familiar themes of obsession and lack of empathy; it just doesn't manage it quite as well. Don't get me wrong this is actually a pretty good book, there is just something missing somewhere and the ending is odd to say the least.
Whether deliberate or not, and I suspect not, Juniper is "off" from the very beginning. Her narration makes it abundantly clear that she is not at all what she seems - even when she is mentally gushing over how hot she finds Deke. From Deke's narration you could be forgiven for thinking that she is a victim in some way and that he is the real threat. Unfortunately she comes across as potentially more dangerous than Deke right from the get go. As the tale unfolds from Deke building her off grid home to Juniper moving in it becomes more about the secrets they are hiding from each other with occasional flashes of the intrusiveness of the outside world. Throw a boyfriend in to the mix and things so go off the rails for both characters. I know, I know not much to go on plotwise here but to mention one thing would give the domino effect away.
The plot pacing is well done and has a good range of highs and lows and I did find myself eager to turn the page on more than one occasion. Told from the twin viewpoints of Deke and Juniper the characters are well separated and have distinct voices which is very hard to do; plus if you are ever confused every time the viewpoint shifts focus it tells you who is leading the story now. What did let it down was the superficial knowledge of off grid living - neither Deke nor Juniper is really off grid and it began to irk me that they kept referring to themselves as such. Plus neither of them seemed to have any real chance of surviving during the winter - lip service is paid to such survivial but from the weak preparations they have made I very much doubt they could.
Overall it is a pretty solid tale, I'm not quite sure that Psychological Thriller really suits it but it is as good a label as any. The reader, more or less, always knows what is going on so it is more about the two main character's reaction to events than anything else. The only guessing we have to do is what Juniper is really doing in the wilds of West Virginia (her plan) and what happened with Alice and Deke. Other than that we are in the enviable state of knowing more than the characters.
If you have managed to avoid reading You then you will probably love this book, if you have read it then you may find this a tad disappointing in comparison.
Saturday, 27 April 2019
The Pie At Night by Stuart Maconie
2.5 Stars
It's not all flat caps and whippets - unless you're in Yorkshire where they still don't have electric light or fitted carpets (sorry Lancastrian, so not sorry) - and this is what Stuart Maconie is hoping to prove here. At least, that's what I think he's trying to prove. It is very hard to tell between his frequent forays in to locations that are decidedly NOT the North (Sorry but Birmingham, Wolverhampton et al are in a Metropolitan County called the West Midlands - the clue is in the name for goodness sake!) and his constant references to Socialist and Sociology texts. It all managed to make it rather tedious reading and just as you are thinking things are getting better he meanders off again.
I had a love/hate relationship with this book and found it very hard going. It didn't help that in many ways this was a North that I genuinely didn't recognise and I have lived in Lancashire all my life. Yes, he does manage to point out that we have a wide and varied cultural heritage up here and we know how to celebrate it BUT (yes it's a big one) somehow the whole tone felt kind of patronising. Yes, he's from up here but it felt as thought he was a Professional Northerner rather than a Real Northener.
We didn't get off to the best of starts when talking about Crown Green Bowling - I am semi-affiliated with this peculiar phenomenon because my 26 year old son plays for two league teams. League teams that compromise a wide age range but are mainly under fifty and I was waiting for this to be acknowledged but it still seemed to be the preserve of old men. Then we get on to Football and Rugby League (always League round here, not of that Southern Softies garbage for us where they cuddle on the pitch - sorry have a scrum) and at least he gets the atmosphere at a game right. What I couldn't agree with was his stance on entrance fees - ticket prices are simply ridiculous and are pricing the game out of many people's purview.
The thing about the North isn't what we do for play so much as how we try and make work play. I see it daily in our office and have done in my past 20+ years of work. There is a camaraderie and a sense we are all in it together - even with that annoying apprentice in Finance or the slightly weird guy that nobody knows what he does but he turns up every day so we tolerate him. He does at least attempt to recreate some of the bizarre conversations that people round here have - trust me the things you hear on Blackpool Prom are pure comedic bliss.
I've been told that Pies And Prejudice is a much better book but after reading this I'm not entirely sure I want to dip my toe in to those waters.
It's not all flat caps and whippets - unless you're in Yorkshire where they still don't have electric light or fitted carpets (sorry Lancastrian, so not sorry) - and this is what Stuart Maconie is hoping to prove here. At least, that's what I think he's trying to prove. It is very hard to tell between his frequent forays in to locations that are decidedly NOT the North (Sorry but Birmingham, Wolverhampton et al are in a Metropolitan County called the West Midlands - the clue is in the name for goodness sake!) and his constant references to Socialist and Sociology texts. It all managed to make it rather tedious reading and just as you are thinking things are getting better he meanders off again.
I had a love/hate relationship with this book and found it very hard going. It didn't help that in many ways this was a North that I genuinely didn't recognise and I have lived in Lancashire all my life. Yes, he does manage to point out that we have a wide and varied cultural heritage up here and we know how to celebrate it BUT (yes it's a big one) somehow the whole tone felt kind of patronising. Yes, he's from up here but it felt as thought he was a Professional Northerner rather than a Real Northener.
We didn't get off to the best of starts when talking about Crown Green Bowling - I am semi-affiliated with this peculiar phenomenon because my 26 year old son plays for two league teams. League teams that compromise a wide age range but are mainly under fifty and I was waiting for this to be acknowledged but it still seemed to be the preserve of old men. Then we get on to Football and Rugby League (always League round here, not of that Southern Softies garbage for us where they cuddle on the pitch - sorry have a scrum) and at least he gets the atmosphere at a game right. What I couldn't agree with was his stance on entrance fees - ticket prices are simply ridiculous and are pricing the game out of many people's purview.
The thing about the North isn't what we do for play so much as how we try and make work play. I see it daily in our office and have done in my past 20+ years of work. There is a camaraderie and a sense we are all in it together - even with that annoying apprentice in Finance or the slightly weird guy that nobody knows what he does but he turns up every day so we tolerate him. He does at least attempt to recreate some of the bizarre conversations that people round here have - trust me the things you hear on Blackpool Prom are pure comedic bliss.
I've been told that Pies And Prejudice is a much better book but after reading this I'm not entirely sure I want to dip my toe in to those waters.
Friday, 26 April 2019
Identity Crisis by Ben Elton
I think we can all agree that Social Media has a place in modern life, even if only by virtue of it's ubiquitousness. I think we can also agree that at it's worst it is manipulative and clogged with lies and misinformation designed merely to instigate a reaction. Those trending hashtags are they real or manufactured? How much truth is contained in any one post - be it from a keyboard warrior in the comfort of their own home or from the desk of a conglomerate? Just how do those posts from people we have never heard of, causes we have not registered an interest in arrive in our various online feeds?
Ben Elton has taken these questions and run with it. Set in the near future against the backdrop of a referendum for England to leave the United Kingdom with some murder and suicide thrown in it shows how the major tool now is not mass media but mass social media. Whilst we all know, and are relatively inured to, the national media having their own political axe to grind we are less aware of the political leanings of Social Media or even who is responsible for those provocative hashtags.
Set in an increasingly "politically correct" age Matlock finds himself floundering as he investigates the brutal murder of a young woman in a leafy park. A single blow to the back of the head kills a young woman, no evidence of robbery, no evidence of assault beyond the death blow, no evidence period. As he tries to fumble his way through the mine field of press statements and a rather irritating pathologist (honestly, she genuinely thought that this information was NOT of major importance to a criminal investigation?) he just gets deeper and deeper in to the mire of being on the "wrong side of history". There is a large cast list here to deal with and each genuinely has their place in the book. Mathematician Malika and her job writing algorithms for Communication Sandwich, Hilary and her Reality TV productions and many, many more.
I can well imagine this book will cause major arguments in Book Clubs around the globe. It's main premise just happens to be one I agree with - never trust what you read online. It makes the, what to me is a, very valid point that you see all this outrage online and yet never meet anyone in the street that has this same level of vitriol about the subject. If you never meet anyone that feels this strongly then who is making those posts? You only have to look back 1000+ days to the pre-Brexit Referendum and the absolute garbage posted daily to people's feeds by both sides to realise that social media manipulation is the be all and end all for any movement.
Beyond that this book also deals with what has long been termed "political correctness gone mad", and it really has gone mad. With new gender pronouns seeming to arrive on a daily basis, another group claiming they are marginalised because of their colour/gender/sexuality (or lack thereof)/taste in biscuits and demanding that they be positively discriminated against. The clue is in the term, whether seen as positive or negative it is still discrimination. I found myself agreeing wholeheartedly with the rather bewildered Matlock as he tries to negotiate the new climate.
Yes, Mr Elton has extrapolated past and current events to an outlandish degree and it does all seem a little overblown and ridiculous. After all, we have common sense and nobody in the wider world would really let things get this far. Honestly, I think he is right on the money and that we are already here, meshed in this web of lies, lies that are told to us because we will believe them so readily as they tap in to our innermost ideals - ideals we are maybe embarrassed about admitting in day to day life but the internet knows us, it allows us to express them and if Bot A agrees with us then we are validated.
I can understand people thinking the whole concept is ridiculous. I can understand people believing that what they read online is true and accurate. I can understand people getting angry about gender bias, homophobia, racism and a myriad other things. What I cannot understand is people writing this book off because they do not agree with the politics in it. It is well written and has a plot that is expressed through several different characters and scenarios - some far less palatable than others this is true. Yes, I happen to agree that the whole manipulation of media is here to stay, I happen to agree that we now have no freedom of speech because absolutely anything can be interpreted as "hate speech" and that the definition of this moves on an hourly basis. I also happen to think that this is a genuinely funny book and the ridiculousness of some of the scenarios just highlight a lessor truth.
Ben Elton has taken these questions and run with it. Set in the near future against the backdrop of a referendum for England to leave the United Kingdom with some murder and suicide thrown in it shows how the major tool now is not mass media but mass social media. Whilst we all know, and are relatively inured to, the national media having their own political axe to grind we are less aware of the political leanings of Social Media or even who is responsible for those provocative hashtags.
Set in an increasingly "politically correct" age Matlock finds himself floundering as he investigates the brutal murder of a young woman in a leafy park. A single blow to the back of the head kills a young woman, no evidence of robbery, no evidence of assault beyond the death blow, no evidence period. As he tries to fumble his way through the mine field of press statements and a rather irritating pathologist (honestly, she genuinely thought that this information was NOT of major importance to a criminal investigation?) he just gets deeper and deeper in to the mire of being on the "wrong side of history". There is a large cast list here to deal with and each genuinely has their place in the book. Mathematician Malika and her job writing algorithms for Communication Sandwich, Hilary and her Reality TV productions and many, many more.
I can well imagine this book will cause major arguments in Book Clubs around the globe. It's main premise just happens to be one I agree with - never trust what you read online. It makes the, what to me is a, very valid point that you see all this outrage online and yet never meet anyone in the street that has this same level of vitriol about the subject. If you never meet anyone that feels this strongly then who is making those posts? You only have to look back 1000+ days to the pre-Brexit Referendum and the absolute garbage posted daily to people's feeds by both sides to realise that social media manipulation is the be all and end all for any movement.
Beyond that this book also deals with what has long been termed "political correctness gone mad", and it really has gone mad. With new gender pronouns seeming to arrive on a daily basis, another group claiming they are marginalised because of their colour/gender/sexuality (or lack thereof)/taste in biscuits and demanding that they be positively discriminated against. The clue is in the term, whether seen as positive or negative it is still discrimination. I found myself agreeing wholeheartedly with the rather bewildered Matlock as he tries to negotiate the new climate.
Yes, Mr Elton has extrapolated past and current events to an outlandish degree and it does all seem a little overblown and ridiculous. After all, we have common sense and nobody in the wider world would really let things get this far. Honestly, I think he is right on the money and that we are already here, meshed in this web of lies, lies that are told to us because we will believe them so readily as they tap in to our innermost ideals - ideals we are maybe embarrassed about admitting in day to day life but the internet knows us, it allows us to express them and if Bot A agrees with us then we are validated.
I can understand people thinking the whole concept is ridiculous. I can understand people believing that what they read online is true and accurate. I can understand people getting angry about gender bias, homophobia, racism and a myriad other things. What I cannot understand is people writing this book off because they do not agree with the politics in it. It is well written and has a plot that is expressed through several different characters and scenarios - some far less palatable than others this is true. Yes, I happen to agree that the whole manipulation of media is here to stay, I happen to agree that we now have no freedom of speech because absolutely anything can be interpreted as "hate speech" and that the definition of this moves on an hourly basis. I also happen to think that this is a genuinely funny book and the ridiculousness of some of the scenarios just highlight a lessor truth.
The Snow Gypsy by Lindsay Jayne Ashford
2.5 Stars
I was really disappointed with this novel, having read a couple of others by this author I was really looking forward to this one. As a departure from her previous fare this book does not seek to fictionalise a real persons life but is about wholly fictional characters set against a back drop of fact. Well, fact to a point there is a lot of very shaky Spanish Civil War history and Gypsy cultural history. I think it is the shakiness of these foundations that ultimately spoilt my enjoyment of the novel.
The characters never really seem to be anything other than words on a page. With all that has happened to Lola (witnessing a massacre as a teenager, raising an abandoned child, living with the fear of oppression) I never felt that I really knew her. Now, this would be fine if she was supposed to be an enigmatic character but we are supposed to feel empathy towards this person as a major supporting character but she is nothing more than a series of unfortunate events upon a page. Rose, our central character, is much the same. We do get to share some of her feelings surrounding the disappearance of her brother but only superficially, the author doesn't take the reader in to Rose's world merely allowing us to stand on the sidelines and watch events unfold.
That is the other problem there is so much going on here that remains unexplored. Instead of settling on the historical event that led us to this point in time and then a major event for each woman to deal with in the present it is a constant stream of events. This means that nothing is really explored on the page and the reader can never truly become immersed in the world. Perhaps the worst handled is Lola's experience after returning home from the Fiesta, it is told in great detail what happened to her but then her way out of the situation seems merely glossed over; for me this was an opportunity missed.
On the whole plot and characterisation let this book down completely and as they are the main things I look for in a read then this was not for me at all. Such a shame as I know this author is capable of writing both in such a way that you get completely sucked in.
I was really disappointed with this novel, having read a couple of others by this author I was really looking forward to this one. As a departure from her previous fare this book does not seek to fictionalise a real persons life but is about wholly fictional characters set against a back drop of fact. Well, fact to a point there is a lot of very shaky Spanish Civil War history and Gypsy cultural history. I think it is the shakiness of these foundations that ultimately spoilt my enjoyment of the novel.
The characters never really seem to be anything other than words on a page. With all that has happened to Lola (witnessing a massacre as a teenager, raising an abandoned child, living with the fear of oppression) I never felt that I really knew her. Now, this would be fine if she was supposed to be an enigmatic character but we are supposed to feel empathy towards this person as a major supporting character but she is nothing more than a series of unfortunate events upon a page. Rose, our central character, is much the same. We do get to share some of her feelings surrounding the disappearance of her brother but only superficially, the author doesn't take the reader in to Rose's world merely allowing us to stand on the sidelines and watch events unfold.
That is the other problem there is so much going on here that remains unexplored. Instead of settling on the historical event that led us to this point in time and then a major event for each woman to deal with in the present it is a constant stream of events. This means that nothing is really explored on the page and the reader can never truly become immersed in the world. Perhaps the worst handled is Lola's experience after returning home from the Fiesta, it is told in great detail what happened to her but then her way out of the situation seems merely glossed over; for me this was an opportunity missed.
On the whole plot and characterisation let this book down completely and as they are the main things I look for in a read then this was not for me at all. Such a shame as I know this author is capable of writing both in such a way that you get completely sucked in.
Thursday, 25 April 2019
The Dressmaker Of Draper's Lane by Liz Trenow
This novel is a sequel, of sorts, to The Silk Weaver which I didn't realise until I started reading it and characters I recognised (Henri and Anna) started cropping up. Unfortunately, for me, this book just did not live up the previous one. The richness of the setting is completely lost along the way and the newly introduced characters really aren't sufficient to carry the story or hold your interest. This isn't helped by having an Ann and an Anna and the main character Charlotte also being known as Agnes. If you read the book in a couple of big chunks this wouldn't be a problem but picking it up several times over a couple of days it does become an issue; well, it did for me.
It doesn't help that the threads of Charlotte running her costumier business are interwoven with the Foundling Hospital that raised her and also her sister's strained marriage to a fire and brimstone Vicar. Nothing really sits together and it all felt like a couple of different stories smooshed together with the filling that was supposed to link running away into the cracks. Unlike with The Silk Weaver everything felt slightly artificial and contrived rather than absorbing you in the time and the place.
Characterisation takes second place to the plotting of the book so I never really felt that I knew Charlotte/Agnes and less so her sister Louisa. In many ways things just happen to Charlotte and she rapidly became just a conduit to discuss child abandonment, abuse of servants, struggles of extended family and women in business in the 18th Century. Louisa is mainly there to show abuse within marriage. There is a plot twist towards the end but it comes as neither a surprise or of much interest by this point - all that's important is that we are nearly at the end. Even the conclusion of the book was strangely dissatisfying and a bit "happy clappy".
One saving grace was the sub title of each chapter providing you with a description of a popular fashion item of the period or a popular cloth; these short snippets were informative and I finally know what a sackback dress would have looked like and why. I suppose I should have known it didn't bode well when something that was not an intrinsic part of the story was the most enjoyable bit of the book. There are some good insights in to the structuring of society but you have to dig for them and the relentless pursuit for everything to come out for the best for all characters did become a little wearisome.
Really the best I can say about the book is that it is relatively non-offensive and passed the time adequately without making me feel like I had completely wasted the hours spent reading it. I did expect much better from the author though as I have read a couple of her previous books and thoroughly enjoyed them - I think nostalgia for those and the hope that this is just a blip is why I have rated this 3 Stars instead of the 2 that it probably deserves.
It doesn't help that the threads of Charlotte running her costumier business are interwoven with the Foundling Hospital that raised her and also her sister's strained marriage to a fire and brimstone Vicar. Nothing really sits together and it all felt like a couple of different stories smooshed together with the filling that was supposed to link running away into the cracks. Unlike with The Silk Weaver everything felt slightly artificial and contrived rather than absorbing you in the time and the place.
Characterisation takes second place to the plotting of the book so I never really felt that I knew Charlotte/Agnes and less so her sister Louisa. In many ways things just happen to Charlotte and she rapidly became just a conduit to discuss child abandonment, abuse of servants, struggles of extended family and women in business in the 18th Century. Louisa is mainly there to show abuse within marriage. There is a plot twist towards the end but it comes as neither a surprise or of much interest by this point - all that's important is that we are nearly at the end. Even the conclusion of the book was strangely dissatisfying and a bit "happy clappy".
One saving grace was the sub title of each chapter providing you with a description of a popular fashion item of the period or a popular cloth; these short snippets were informative and I finally know what a sackback dress would have looked like and why. I suppose I should have known it didn't bode well when something that was not an intrinsic part of the story was the most enjoyable bit of the book. There are some good insights in to the structuring of society but you have to dig for them and the relentless pursuit for everything to come out for the best for all characters did become a little wearisome.
Really the best I can say about the book is that it is relatively non-offensive and passed the time adequately without making me feel like I had completely wasted the hours spent reading it. I did expect much better from the author though as I have read a couple of her previous books and thoroughly enjoyed them - I think nostalgia for those and the hope that this is just a blip is why I have rated this 3 Stars instead of the 2 that it probably deserves.
Friday, 19 April 2019
Cruel Acts by Jane Casey
Somehow, and I am not sure how, Jane Casey is a completely new author to me. This strikes me as particularly odd as this is a genre that I have read extensively in and she is hardly a new author. I might be late to the delights of Kerrigan novels (this is the eighth after all) but this is definitely a case of better late than never. Despite having no knowledge of the characters it is easy to slot in to their world and I never felt like I was missing out on anything except some personal history between her and Derwent. It also appeared that there was little regurgitation of previous storylines so this worked as a more or less stand alone story.
The thing that really stood out for me was the relationship between Derwent and Kerrigan. The banter between them and the way they could completely frustrate each other was wonderfully detailed on the page, the dialogue in particular was crisp, sharp and wholly believable. In all honesty the relationships between everyone we meet on the MIT are very realistic and with only a few short sentences a rich world is revealed to the reader, more importantly (and impressively) a wholly believable one.
I am not going to talk much about the plot here. The blurb tells you more or less what to expect from the criminal investigation side of things and I fear that even mentioning some of the characters will lead me down the path of revealing far more than I should. Suffice to say it is cleverly crafted with enough twists, turns and red herrings to keep you scratching your head and mentally crossing out your theories as time goes on. Despite the grim horror of the crimes nothing is sensationalised and there are no flashbacks to the crimes here beyond witness statements, so no real blood, guts and gore which does make a refreshing change for the genre.
This is an accomplished book with strong characters, a free flowing and elegant plot and some genuine laugh out loud moments.
THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA THE PIGEONHOLE.
The thing that really stood out for me was the relationship between Derwent and Kerrigan. The banter between them and the way they could completely frustrate each other was wonderfully detailed on the page, the dialogue in particular was crisp, sharp and wholly believable. In all honesty the relationships between everyone we meet on the MIT are very realistic and with only a few short sentences a rich world is revealed to the reader, more importantly (and impressively) a wholly believable one.
I am not going to talk much about the plot here. The blurb tells you more or less what to expect from the criminal investigation side of things and I fear that even mentioning some of the characters will lead me down the path of revealing far more than I should. Suffice to say it is cleverly crafted with enough twists, turns and red herrings to keep you scratching your head and mentally crossing out your theories as time goes on. Despite the grim horror of the crimes nothing is sensationalised and there are no flashbacks to the crimes here beyond witness statements, so no real blood, guts and gore which does make a refreshing change for the genre.
This is an accomplished book with strong characters, a free flowing and elegant plot and some genuine laugh out loud moments.
THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA THE PIGEONHOLE.
Blast From The Past by Ben Elton
I really wasn't sure about this book initially as it does take quite a long time to get going and Polly's voice is initially whiny and irritating; put simply she seems to enjoy playing the victim. When her phone rings at 2:15am she initially worries that it is her stalker and as there is, as yet, no law against Peter's actions and nobody seems to take his behaviour as being a threat to her there is every chance it will be. Cowering in her bed she listens as the answering machine picks up and it is worse than she could have thought - sixteen years and two months ago she had an ill-fated love affair and now Jack is very definitely back.
Much of the book is set in flashback and deals with the Greenham Common protest camp that sprang up around the storage of Cruise Missiles at the base. By setting Polly and Jack on opposite sides of the camp fence Mr Elton gets to provide us with a nice chunk of political satire. Despite these very politics forming part of his act at the time of Greenham Common he manages to give a balanced view of both the protestor's take on the situation and that of an American career military man - the fact he is American is important. It also covers feminism, liberalism and the changing attitudes of society within the 16 years that form the setting of this book.
Whilst being undoubtedly political in nature there is enough humour to dilute some of the more tub-thumping sections. Strangely it is Jack's arguments that carried more weight with me and I found Polly to be rather woolly in her cognitive processes and whilst this was mainly endearing when she was 17, now she is in her thirties it just made me want to slap her. There are nice little side steps covering the rash of sexual harassment complaints levelled against members of the American Armed Forces and their President (Nibs made me laugh quite a bit) and Jack's explanation for them (boys will be boys) whilst feeble was relevant to how many people viewed them at the time.
Alongside the political activism there is the story of Polly's modern day stalker, Peter. He is clearly a very disturbed man and whilst only accidentally coming in to Polly's orbit he is genuinely obsessed with her. He is also far more dangerous than anyone knows.
The various strands weave together well and the time and narrator shifts blend seamlessly together. Altogether an accomplished bit of writing that thoroughly entertains and gives a good waft of nostalgia for those readers old enough to remember this turbulent time.
Much of the book is set in flashback and deals with the Greenham Common protest camp that sprang up around the storage of Cruise Missiles at the base. By setting Polly and Jack on opposite sides of the camp fence Mr Elton gets to provide us with a nice chunk of political satire. Despite these very politics forming part of his act at the time of Greenham Common he manages to give a balanced view of both the protestor's take on the situation and that of an American career military man - the fact he is American is important. It also covers feminism, liberalism and the changing attitudes of society within the 16 years that form the setting of this book.
Whilst being undoubtedly political in nature there is enough humour to dilute some of the more tub-thumping sections. Strangely it is Jack's arguments that carried more weight with me and I found Polly to be rather woolly in her cognitive processes and whilst this was mainly endearing when she was 17, now she is in her thirties it just made me want to slap her. There are nice little side steps covering the rash of sexual harassment complaints levelled against members of the American Armed Forces and their President (Nibs made me laugh quite a bit) and Jack's explanation for them (boys will be boys) whilst feeble was relevant to how many people viewed them at the time.
Alongside the political activism there is the story of Polly's modern day stalker, Peter. He is clearly a very disturbed man and whilst only accidentally coming in to Polly's orbit he is genuinely obsessed with her. He is also far more dangerous than anyone knows.
The various strands weave together well and the time and narrator shifts blend seamlessly together. Altogether an accomplished bit of writing that thoroughly entertains and gives a good waft of nostalgia for those readers old enough to remember this turbulent time.
Beyond The Lens by Hannah Ellis
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I enjoy a good rom-com as much as the next woman "of a certain age" but it is always a bit of a risk trying a new author. Luckily Ms Ellis does not disappoint and has presented the reader with a quirky and funny novel that centres around a reality TV show. I was expecting something along the lines of UnReal but whilst it does touch on the manipulation of the edit suite it is much more about the disparate group of characters thrown together by circumstance.
At first it took me a while to get on board with the whole premise - grabbing 7 strangers from the street and flying them out to spend a week free of charge in a Spanish Finca, the only catch being they agree to be filmed. Each of the 7 (Dylan, Ryan, Matt, Kelly, Margaret, Chrissie and our heroine Lucy) have wildly different reasons for taking the week out of their real lives; the only problem for the production team is they genuinely get along. The only problem for me was that they were all a little bit too drama free and I did find it hard to countenance that 7 disparate people would gel so much. It did make for fun reading though.
The real problems start when they get back to Manchester and find that they have been broadcast live to the nation and in a way that is unrepresentative of the actual week they spent. There is a nice little twist to the story and a moral about what the media (social and traditional) can do to manipulate the consumer.
I did find myself less interested in the budding romance between Adam the cameraman and Lucy than in the friendships developing between the lucky 7; particularly after they return to Manchester. Whilst the romance angle is well drawn and, for the genre, moderately believable I was much more interested in the characters and how they related to each other and their sudden fame rather than whether Adam and Lucy were really going to make a go of it.
This fun and frothy and would make the perfect beach read.
At first it took me a while to get on board with the whole premise - grabbing 7 strangers from the street and flying them out to spend a week free of charge in a Spanish Finca, the only catch being they agree to be filmed. Each of the 7 (Dylan, Ryan, Matt, Kelly, Margaret, Chrissie and our heroine Lucy) have wildly different reasons for taking the week out of their real lives; the only problem for the production team is they genuinely get along. The only problem for me was that they were all a little bit too drama free and I did find it hard to countenance that 7 disparate people would gel so much. It did make for fun reading though.
The real problems start when they get back to Manchester and find that they have been broadcast live to the nation and in a way that is unrepresentative of the actual week they spent. There is a nice little twist to the story and a moral about what the media (social and traditional) can do to manipulate the consumer.
I did find myself less interested in the budding romance between Adam the cameraman and Lucy than in the friendships developing between the lucky 7; particularly after they return to Manchester. Whilst the romance angle is well drawn and, for the genre, moderately believable I was much more interested in the characters and how they related to each other and their sudden fame rather than whether Adam and Lucy were really going to make a go of it.
This fun and frothy and would make the perfect beach read.
Chestnut Street by Maeve Binchy
3.5 Stars
On the whole this was rather disappointing and I am not sure that the Editor here has done anything to further Ms Binchy's posthumous reputation. Many of the stories read like character studies or trial runs for a chapter in a long form novel which means that they don't actually work as a stand alone story. The ones that do work are probably those that were being worked on with a view to a more complete story about Chestnut Street and it's residents.
I ranked each story as I read it and whilst none are terrible it is all a bit hit and miss:
Dolly's Mother - 3 Stars
It's Only A Day - 3.5 Stars
Fay's New uncle - 3 Stars
A Problem Of My Own - 2.5 Stars
All That Matters - 3 Stars
Joyce And The Blind Date - 2 Stars
Liberty Green - 2.5 Stars
The Cure For Sleeplessness - 4 Stars
Miss Ranger's Reward - 3.5 Stars
Decision In Dublin - 4 Stars
The Wrong Caption - 4.5 Stars
Star Sullivan - 2 Stars
Taxi Men Are Invisible - 2.5 Stars
A Card For Father's Day - 2 Stars
The Gift Of Dignity - 3 Stars
The Investment - 3.5 Stars
The Leap Of faith - 2 Stars
Lilian's Hair - 4 Stars
Flowers From Grace - 3 Stars
The Builders - 3.5 Stars
Bucket Maguire - 3 Stars
The Older Man - 3 Stars
Philip And The Flower Arrangers - 3 Stars
Reasonable Access - 4 Stars
By The Time We Get To Clifden - 2 Stars
The Women Who Righted Wrongs - 4 Stars
The Sighting - 3 Stars
The Lottery Of The Birds - 3.5 Stars
Madame Magic - 3 Stars
Say Nothing - 2.5 Stars
Eager To Please - 2 Stars
Seeing Things Clearly - 4 Stars
Fair Exchange - 3 Stars
The Window Box - 2.5 Stars
Finn's Future - 3.5 Stars
One Night A Year - 4 Stars
Tara's Horse - 3 Stars
On the whole this was rather disappointing and I am not sure that the Editor here has done anything to further Ms Binchy's posthumous reputation. Many of the stories read like character studies or trial runs for a chapter in a long form novel which means that they don't actually work as a stand alone story. The ones that do work are probably those that were being worked on with a view to a more complete story about Chestnut Street and it's residents.
I ranked each story as I read it and whilst none are terrible it is all a bit hit and miss:
Dolly's Mother - 3 Stars
It's Only A Day - 3.5 Stars
Fay's New uncle - 3 Stars
A Problem Of My Own - 2.5 Stars
All That Matters - 3 Stars
Joyce And The Blind Date - 2 Stars
Liberty Green - 2.5 Stars
The Cure For Sleeplessness - 4 Stars
Miss Ranger's Reward - 3.5 Stars
Decision In Dublin - 4 Stars
The Wrong Caption - 4.5 Stars
Star Sullivan - 2 Stars
Taxi Men Are Invisible - 2.5 Stars
A Card For Father's Day - 2 Stars
The Gift Of Dignity - 3 Stars
The Investment - 3.5 Stars
The Leap Of faith - 2 Stars
Lilian's Hair - 4 Stars
Flowers From Grace - 3 Stars
The Builders - 3.5 Stars
Bucket Maguire - 3 Stars
The Older Man - 3 Stars
Philip And The Flower Arrangers - 3 Stars
Reasonable Access - 4 Stars
By The Time We Get To Clifden - 2 Stars
The Women Who Righted Wrongs - 4 Stars
The Sighting - 3 Stars
The Lottery Of The Birds - 3.5 Stars
Madame Magic - 3 Stars
Say Nothing - 2.5 Stars
Eager To Please - 2 Stars
Seeing Things Clearly - 4 Stars
Fair Exchange - 3 Stars
The Window Box - 2.5 Stars
Finn's Future - 3.5 Stars
One Night A Year - 4 Stars
Tara's Horse - 3 Stars
Thursday, 18 April 2019
Perfect by V.J. Chambers
I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting from this book, but it certainly took me down a very different route than one anticipated. It is best described as a mix between The Stepford Wives (no leaps of association required here it is mentioned multiple times in the text), the Going Clear documentary and any Gothic horror movie you ever saw. Whatever the mix is, I found this to be a hugely entertaining novel by an author I had never read before and one that I will be purchasing more from based on this one novel.
Sidney is a great character, a nicely balanced and nuanced everywoman who just happens to write and self-publish paranormal romances. This is a lucrative business but since her second divorce, her eldest daughter moving away to college and moving to Lassiters Cove she now seems to be suffering from Writers Block. The friction with her ex-husband and the shared custody of her 6 year old daughter isn't helping matters so she decides to use the free massage voucher in her neighbourhood welcome pack. This is where we get to meet two of the other main players in this story - the Lotus Centre and Leo Giles.
From this jumping off point the author has left themselves plenty of scope to talk about body positivity, societal pressures to confirm, herd mentality and the wonder of a really good horror movie. The pacing is fast but deftly handled so it never feels rushed but you do move from event to event quite rapidly and there is more going on than the Stepford-esque perfection of The Regimen. There is even time for a little romance to be sprinkled here and there in to the mix.
My biggest problem was the unsatisfactory nature of the ending to the tale, not quite resolved but not left wide enough open to really return. There were also, to my mind, some timeline issues where the sequence of events appeared to get a bit jumbled up. Ultimately this didn't matter as this is a jolly good caper and was a quite inventive take on modern life through film references. There is also some decent humour sprinkled amongst the jump scares and the panic.
Wonderful story telling that completely drew me in and made this book disturbingly difficult to put down.
Sidney is a great character, a nicely balanced and nuanced everywoman who just happens to write and self-publish paranormal romances. This is a lucrative business but since her second divorce, her eldest daughter moving away to college and moving to Lassiters Cove she now seems to be suffering from Writers Block. The friction with her ex-husband and the shared custody of her 6 year old daughter isn't helping matters so she decides to use the free massage voucher in her neighbourhood welcome pack. This is where we get to meet two of the other main players in this story - the Lotus Centre and Leo Giles.
From this jumping off point the author has left themselves plenty of scope to talk about body positivity, societal pressures to confirm, herd mentality and the wonder of a really good horror movie. The pacing is fast but deftly handled so it never feels rushed but you do move from event to event quite rapidly and there is more going on than the Stepford-esque perfection of The Regimen. There is even time for a little romance to be sprinkled here and there in to the mix.
My biggest problem was the unsatisfactory nature of the ending to the tale, not quite resolved but not left wide enough open to really return. There were also, to my mind, some timeline issues where the sequence of events appeared to get a bit jumbled up. Ultimately this didn't matter as this is a jolly good caper and was a quite inventive take on modern life through film references. There is also some decent humour sprinkled amongst the jump scares and the panic.
Wonderful story telling that completely drew me in and made this book disturbingly difficult to put down.
Inspector Hobbes And The Blood by Wilkie Martin
I was disappointed with this book, on the whole, as I was expecting something along the lines of Ben Aaronivitch's PC Peter Grant series and this really isn't that. On the surface they seem to have a similar premise - all is not what it seems and myth and magic collide just out of sight of human eyes. It is just a shame that Me Martin's take on this is much less well thought through and the myth and magic is just bolted in to a regular small town scenario. There are also no real reveals in the book, hinted at heavily but no outright acknowledgment. Initially this works well as Andy is more than a bit gormless so you go with it as we are seeing things from his perspective. As things progress it starts to become a wee bit tedious, it is obvious what Hobbes is and now Andy has met the Ghouls and The Olde Troll why not just fess up?
The crime caper element of the story is marginally more successful with home break-ins, a daring raid on the local museum and even a smash and grab at the local church. What do the items stolen have in common? Why did the thieves not cover their tracks by taking a selection of random items to hide what they were really up to? The second question, alas, is never answered but the first one is with a great big shovelful of related, but worthless, information accompanying it.
The only thing that really saved the novel from being unfinished and flung in a corner was the characters. There are definitely a large number of eccentrics living in this sleepy little town. Hobbes and Andy are the central characters but they are somewhat eclipsed by Dregs The Dog, who steals each and every scene he appears in. Even after a whole book I still don't really know Hobbes, which is a problem when it comes to making you want to pick up the next in a continuing series. This is doubly so when the main character is so hopelessly bumbling that all I really want to do is shake and slap him.
I think I may have been over-forgiving when I jotted 3 Stars down in my notebook against this title. However, that was my immediate reaction on completing the book so I will stick with it. Must say I am regretting buying the boxed set of the first 3 books now as reading another doesn't fill me with joy.
The crime caper element of the story is marginally more successful with home break-ins, a daring raid on the local museum and even a smash and grab at the local church. What do the items stolen have in common? Why did the thieves not cover their tracks by taking a selection of random items to hide what they were really up to? The second question, alas, is never answered but the first one is with a great big shovelful of related, but worthless, information accompanying it.
The only thing that really saved the novel from being unfinished and flung in a corner was the characters. There are definitely a large number of eccentrics living in this sleepy little town. Hobbes and Andy are the central characters but they are somewhat eclipsed by Dregs The Dog, who steals each and every scene he appears in. Even after a whole book I still don't really know Hobbes, which is a problem when it comes to making you want to pick up the next in a continuing series. This is doubly so when the main character is so hopelessly bumbling that all I really want to do is shake and slap him.
I think I may have been over-forgiving when I jotted 3 Stars down in my notebook against this title. However, that was my immediate reaction on completing the book so I will stick with it. Must say I am regretting buying the boxed set of the first 3 books now as reading another doesn't fill me with joy.
Wednesday, 17 April 2019
The Rules Of Seeing by Joe Heap
3.5 Stars
Like The Safinova Surprise sandwich this is a bizarre book that takes a while to get in to, actually it takes over a hundred pages before you really start to bed in to the book itself. It all feels a little disconnected and disjointed in the early stages and doesn't actually start to become cohesive until about half way through, fortunately by that point the characters have started to grow on you so it did keep me reading. I couldn't shake the feeling that the author had started off writing one story and ended up telling another, from a kitchen sink drama it morphs in to a thriller. To be honest, the thriller it becomes is well worth a read and completely gripping.
It is basically the story of two women, Jillian "Nova" Safinova and Kate. They meet after Nova has an operation to give her sight, sight that has been missing since birth, and Kate suffers from a head injury. Whilst I found Nova's sections warm and rather wonderful pieces of writing that gave a real insight in to her life before and after the operation I never quite got to grip with Kate. I couldn't understand the sudden paranoia she seemed to suffer from after being hospitalised, nowhere does the book mention that her head injury could be responsible for personality changes so maybe she was always this neurotic and we just couldn't see it.
The blurb talks about a love story and there is a little bit of that here but the relationships never feel quite tangible somehow. There is always that feeling that rather than romantic love this is all more about companionship and survival than passion. The author certainly manages to show the fractured nature of relationships with parents, friends, former lovers and new ones and even though these are touched on only briefly for both characters there is a deftness of touch to the writing that lets you see a little deeper in to the characters.
For a first novel this is actually pretty good, I did feel that the editor needed to have a heavier hand and that the whole would have benefitted from a more directed plot. A decision should have been made about what the story wanting to be told was going to be as the current mash up of genres really does not do the author, or the reader, any justice. The author clearly has a good idea of what makes people tick and it comes across quite well in the book; I can't help but think this would have worked better as a psychological thriller from the off rather than morphing in to one.
On a final note, I loved the thought given to the nature of sight and it made me realise quite how bizarre this important sense is. How much we take for granted having been lucky enough to see from birth. Touching on both loss of sight (with Nova's mentor John) and the giving of sight to Nova herself it genuinely makes you think about just how weird everything is if you just stop and think about it. To Nova there is no depth to the visual world, people's faces are monstrous and every day items are terrifying in their shape and structure.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK SUPPLIED BY READERS FIRST.
Like The Safinova Surprise sandwich this is a bizarre book that takes a while to get in to, actually it takes over a hundred pages before you really start to bed in to the book itself. It all feels a little disconnected and disjointed in the early stages and doesn't actually start to become cohesive until about half way through, fortunately by that point the characters have started to grow on you so it did keep me reading. I couldn't shake the feeling that the author had started off writing one story and ended up telling another, from a kitchen sink drama it morphs in to a thriller. To be honest, the thriller it becomes is well worth a read and completely gripping.
It is basically the story of two women, Jillian "Nova" Safinova and Kate. They meet after Nova has an operation to give her sight, sight that has been missing since birth, and Kate suffers from a head injury. Whilst I found Nova's sections warm and rather wonderful pieces of writing that gave a real insight in to her life before and after the operation I never quite got to grip with Kate. I couldn't understand the sudden paranoia she seemed to suffer from after being hospitalised, nowhere does the book mention that her head injury could be responsible for personality changes so maybe she was always this neurotic and we just couldn't see it.
The blurb talks about a love story and there is a little bit of that here but the relationships never feel quite tangible somehow. There is always that feeling that rather than romantic love this is all more about companionship and survival than passion. The author certainly manages to show the fractured nature of relationships with parents, friends, former lovers and new ones and even though these are touched on only briefly for both characters there is a deftness of touch to the writing that lets you see a little deeper in to the characters.
For a first novel this is actually pretty good, I did feel that the editor needed to have a heavier hand and that the whole would have benefitted from a more directed plot. A decision should have been made about what the story wanting to be told was going to be as the current mash up of genres really does not do the author, or the reader, any justice. The author clearly has a good idea of what makes people tick and it comes across quite well in the book; I can't help but think this would have worked better as a psychological thriller from the off rather than morphing in to one.
On a final note, I loved the thought given to the nature of sight and it made me realise quite how bizarre this important sense is. How much we take for granted having been lucky enough to see from birth. Touching on both loss of sight (with Nova's mentor John) and the giving of sight to Nova herself it genuinely makes you think about just how weird everything is if you just stop and think about it. To Nova there is no depth to the visual world, people's faces are monstrous and every day items are terrifying in their shape and structure.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK SUPPLIED BY READERS FIRST.
Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes
Hidden Bodies has none of the impact that You did, but I didn't really expect to as we already know the main character and we know the style of narration already and, sadly, it was those that made You so fresh and enjoyable. Already, Joe is beginning to become an annoyance to the reader and his manipulations this time around are far less subtle and he is clearly nowhere near as clever as he thinks he is. This is in stark contrast to the first novel so it comes as quite a shock to the reader as you do expect, nay anticipate, more of the same.
By moving Joe to California there was such a lot of scope to move in a different direction with him, not to rehabilitate him but just do something other than the stalker guy with a penchant for murder. About half way through it actually felt to me like Joe was suffering from locked in syndrome and that everything was merely playing out in his head rather than in reality, that somehow murdering Beck in the previous book had caused a psychotic break and now he was lying drooling in a bed somewhere and this was his fantasy. To be entirely honest this unfounded thought actually made the rest of the book moderately enjoyable and is solely responsible for the middle of the road 3 stars I have given it.
The story itself is bitty and far more incredulous than You ever was. I expect to have to suspend a certain amount of belief when reading any book and although I was looking forward to this book I was not expecting it to have any real leaning on reality. Unfortunately it has no relationship to reality at all. From drugged up talk show hosts, to a pair of bizarre twins, to Joe suddenly becoming a genius in his new field it all has a sheen of surreality about it, then again the bulk of the book is set among the uber rich of Hollywood so maybe I shouldn't have been that surprised.
You and Providence are great books by Caroline Kepnes but this one definitely doesn't live up to either of them. I wouldn't advise you to avoid reading it but I would warn you that you may it find it ultimately disappointing.
By moving Joe to California there was such a lot of scope to move in a different direction with him, not to rehabilitate him but just do something other than the stalker guy with a penchant for murder. About half way through it actually felt to me like Joe was suffering from locked in syndrome and that everything was merely playing out in his head rather than in reality, that somehow murdering Beck in the previous book had caused a psychotic break and now he was lying drooling in a bed somewhere and this was his fantasy. To be entirely honest this unfounded thought actually made the rest of the book moderately enjoyable and is solely responsible for the middle of the road 3 stars I have given it.
The story itself is bitty and far more incredulous than You ever was. I expect to have to suspend a certain amount of belief when reading any book and although I was looking forward to this book I was not expecting it to have any real leaning on reality. Unfortunately it has no relationship to reality at all. From drugged up talk show hosts, to a pair of bizarre twins, to Joe suddenly becoming a genius in his new field it all has a sheen of surreality about it, then again the bulk of the book is set among the uber rich of Hollywood so maybe I shouldn't have been that surprised.
You and Providence are great books by Caroline Kepnes but this one definitely doesn't live up to either of them. I wouldn't advise you to avoid reading it but I would warn you that you may it find it ultimately disappointing.
Us by David Nicholls
I was looking forward to this book as I really enjoyed One Day, The Understudy and Starter For Ten. It seems though that this anticipation may have ruined my enjoyment of the book as I found it all a little bit flat and ploddy. I expect rich characters from Mr Nicholls with varied facets to their characters but the people populating Us were pretty much one dimensional. So much so I have just had to go back and remind myself of their names as I just could not bring them to mind.
It is clear from the start that Douglas and Connie are very, very different people. It is not just the fact that he is all about Science and she is all about Art, they are just such different personality types so when Connie wakes him in the early hours one morning to say she isn't sure about their marriage it comes as no real surprise. There is also the lingering feeling that it is partly engendered by good old Empty Nest Syndrome as Albie is due to start College (should this not have been University?) that Autumn. Despite Connie's pronouncement they decide to continue with their planned month long tour of Europe, their Grand Tour and see if they can save their marriage.
The story itself is told from Douglas's point of view and I did find myself empathising with him. The itinerary for the holiday made me laugh as this is something we always used to do and that was just for a week in Scarborough never mind a month visiting Paris, Amsterdam and many other points. The flashbacks to the early days of their relationship are slotted seamlessly in to the tale and Douglas's narration is suitably wry and knowing - he can see the warning signs as well as we can.
There is a nice gentle, dry wit throughout the book but something intangible is missing. As we learn more about the relationship between Douglas and Connie you can see that Douglas has never really known his wife and so she is almost a caricature of the zany artist and then the hausfrau on the page. I appreciate that this is due to the author's craft as we only ever know Douglas's viewpoint but it just frustrated me and felt unbalanced. The treatment of the teenage Albie is fleeting but he feels terribly precocious for a 17 year old boy, more like a 21 or 22 year old who has had the 3 years of living away from home whilst at University to mould and harden them.
The European settings are fresh and vibrant and actually made me want to consider getting a passport; well, for about 10 minutes after I finished the book and then I remembered how much I hate travelling for more than an hour. The book does dip it's toe in to farce quite frequently with disastrous hotel bookings, left luggage and bizarre encounters. Maybe this was my real issue with the book as farce just doesn't do "it" for me.
Overall I came away disappointed in the book as it does not have the richness of character or location that the 3 other novels I have read by this author have.
It is clear from the start that Douglas and Connie are very, very different people. It is not just the fact that he is all about Science and she is all about Art, they are just such different personality types so when Connie wakes him in the early hours one morning to say she isn't sure about their marriage it comes as no real surprise. There is also the lingering feeling that it is partly engendered by good old Empty Nest Syndrome as Albie is due to start College (should this not have been University?) that Autumn. Despite Connie's pronouncement they decide to continue with their planned month long tour of Europe, their Grand Tour and see if they can save their marriage.
The story itself is told from Douglas's point of view and I did find myself empathising with him. The itinerary for the holiday made me laugh as this is something we always used to do and that was just for a week in Scarborough never mind a month visiting Paris, Amsterdam and many other points. The flashbacks to the early days of their relationship are slotted seamlessly in to the tale and Douglas's narration is suitably wry and knowing - he can see the warning signs as well as we can.
There is a nice gentle, dry wit throughout the book but something intangible is missing. As we learn more about the relationship between Douglas and Connie you can see that Douglas has never really known his wife and so she is almost a caricature of the zany artist and then the hausfrau on the page. I appreciate that this is due to the author's craft as we only ever know Douglas's viewpoint but it just frustrated me and felt unbalanced. The treatment of the teenage Albie is fleeting but he feels terribly precocious for a 17 year old boy, more like a 21 or 22 year old who has had the 3 years of living away from home whilst at University to mould and harden them.
The European settings are fresh and vibrant and actually made me want to consider getting a passport; well, for about 10 minutes after I finished the book and then I remembered how much I hate travelling for more than an hour. The book does dip it's toe in to farce quite frequently with disastrous hotel bookings, left luggage and bizarre encounters. Maybe this was my real issue with the book as farce just doesn't do "it" for me.
Overall I came away disappointed in the book as it does not have the richness of character or location that the 3 other novels I have read by this author have.
A Good Enough Mother by Bev Thomas
This is very much a story of two halves, one of which is very effective and the other that just felt tedious. The sections set with Ruth at the Trauma Unit are very, very good. Whether she is in conference with a patient, in a supervisory capacity over Stephanie, in a group meeting with the rest of the unit team or in supervision herself the scenes glow on the page and are very involving. Lots of little nuances and dialogue that reads in a realistic way. Then we come to Ruth's life away from the unit and all the good work is undone. Stilted, trite and stretches credulity.
I can see what the author was trying to achieve - the dichotomy between the professional and intelligent woman and the mother in the grip of grief and uncertainty over the disappearance of her son; the power of transference. Unfortunately it just didn't work for me, the split between the two sides of Ruth was too great to be believable initially and then as she begins to unravel at work I just wondered why other professionals in the field could not see it. Ruth's obsession with Daniel is explained well and I could understand her warped rationale. However, it was clear from the outset that Daniel was fixated on her from before they even met and yet this is never explained. The relationship between Daniel and Hayley(?) is touched upon briefly and then never mentioned again, not even towards the end of the book when it could prove to be pivotal - it seemed to be raised and then forgotten all about.
For me this book just tried to cover too much ground and became confused about the message it was trying to send. If it had focused on the themes of love and loss or the themes of fracturing mental states it would have been better for it; by trying to merge the three together it just lost it's way. There are some really good talking points raised here about mental health care but they get swamped by cloying sentimentality because we had to keep returning to Ruth's navel gazing. It tries just that little bit too hard.
Whilst I didn't hate it, I would struggle to recommend it as a good read.
THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA THE PIGEONHOLE.
I can see what the author was trying to achieve - the dichotomy between the professional and intelligent woman and the mother in the grip of grief and uncertainty over the disappearance of her son; the power of transference. Unfortunately it just didn't work for me, the split between the two sides of Ruth was too great to be believable initially and then as she begins to unravel at work I just wondered why other professionals in the field could not see it. Ruth's obsession with Daniel is explained well and I could understand her warped rationale. However, it was clear from the outset that Daniel was fixated on her from before they even met and yet this is never explained. The relationship between Daniel and Hayley(?) is touched upon briefly and then never mentioned again, not even towards the end of the book when it could prove to be pivotal - it seemed to be raised and then forgotten all about.
For me this book just tried to cover too much ground and became confused about the message it was trying to send. If it had focused on the themes of love and loss or the themes of fracturing mental states it would have been better for it; by trying to merge the three together it just lost it's way. There are some really good talking points raised here about mental health care but they get swamped by cloying sentimentality because we had to keep returning to Ruth's navel gazing. It tries just that little bit too hard.
Whilst I didn't hate it, I would struggle to recommend it as a good read.
THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA THE PIGEONHOLE.
Wednesday, 10 April 2019
The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms
For Amy Byler, the city really is so good they named it twice. With a 12 year old and a 15 year old at home and her ex-husband suddenly reappearing after 3 years of silence it is time to get away. Away from the hum drum existence of work and chores that leaves no time for her, away from her martyrdom, just away. Told with humour and a deft touch this book was a complete joy to read.
There are some issues with the plotting of the book, mainly centering around how easily Amy gets a job when her husband abandons his family. Any psychological trauma to the children from this event is glossed over very quickly. How Amy manages to foot the bill for her momspringa is never really explained - yes she has free accommodation, yes she has a credit card but is very reluctant to use it and all that eating out is going to cost. At least the new wardrobe, beauty treatments and exercise classes are paid for by Pure Beautiful. This is a minor issue but it did bother me, as it always does; not enough for me to mark the book down though.
The plotting is strong with believable characters and situations. Amy herself is a mix of all those conflicting emotions that we all suffer from, mainly the worry that she is just not a good enough mum. Even though her children reassure her they are fine spending this time with their father and to go enjoy herself she constantly tortures herself with thoughts of unworthiness. Fortunately she has good friends in Rachel and Lena who bolster her through, when she meets Matt and Daniel their support is probably more important as they do not know her history as intimately but yet still bolster her courage.
I loved all the literary references - to be expected in a book about a Librarian after all. Even better, this is a Librarian in a school so lots of references to YA literature and I love a good bit of YA. Cori's journal entries to her mum about the books she has been set to read are fun and have the tone of a precocious 15 year old, rather than a 30 something trying to emulate a 15 year old.
I believe this genre is rapidly becoming referred to as Up Lit and this book genuinely fits the genre. It will put a smile on your face and a song in your heart and give you slightly restless feet. What it won't do is help you get off at the right stop on your commute, you are going to wildly overshoot as you become absorbed in Amy's world and cheer her on through first dates, exercise sessions and heart to hearts with her friends.
There are some issues with the plotting of the book, mainly centering around how easily Amy gets a job when her husband abandons his family. Any psychological trauma to the children from this event is glossed over very quickly. How Amy manages to foot the bill for her momspringa is never really explained - yes she has free accommodation, yes she has a credit card but is very reluctant to use it and all that eating out is going to cost. At least the new wardrobe, beauty treatments and exercise classes are paid for by Pure Beautiful. This is a minor issue but it did bother me, as it always does; not enough for me to mark the book down though.
The plotting is strong with believable characters and situations. Amy herself is a mix of all those conflicting emotions that we all suffer from, mainly the worry that she is just not a good enough mum. Even though her children reassure her they are fine spending this time with their father and to go enjoy herself she constantly tortures herself with thoughts of unworthiness. Fortunately she has good friends in Rachel and Lena who bolster her through, when she meets Matt and Daniel their support is probably more important as they do not know her history as intimately but yet still bolster her courage.
I loved all the literary references - to be expected in a book about a Librarian after all. Even better, this is a Librarian in a school so lots of references to YA literature and I love a good bit of YA. Cori's journal entries to her mum about the books she has been set to read are fun and have the tone of a precocious 15 year old, rather than a 30 something trying to emulate a 15 year old.
I believe this genre is rapidly becoming referred to as Up Lit and this book genuinely fits the genre. It will put a smile on your face and a song in your heart and give you slightly restless feet. What it won't do is help you get off at the right stop on your commute, you are going to wildly overshoot as you become absorbed in Amy's world and cheer her on through first dates, exercise sessions and heart to hearts with her friends.
Unnatural Causes by Dr Richard Shepherd
3.5 Stars
There is a rather prurient interest in reading this kind of book, one that we are often loathe to admit to ourselves let alone others. A sort of feeling that by facing what can happen means it won't happen to us. This book reminds us that it can happen to anyone - post mortems aren't exclusively for victims of crime, they are for anyone who dies without a clear cause of death (not covered here are the quite rigorous set of rules that govern what this entails - usually sudden death or a death not expected from a diagnosed condition) and even if the cause seems clear to the families the medical profession may not be as certain and so under the knife we go. As you can tell I have experience of this profession from both a member of a deceased person's family and as a former Funeral Director.
It pleased me that the description of a morgue was accurate, along with the strong sense of camaraderie and humour that permeates these places. Due respect is shown to the deceased but without humour you would find yourself in a very dark place emotionally very quickly; although the two I frequented ran on coffee and not tea but biscuits were in constant supply and good ones too. This comes across very strongly in this book and it was refreshing to see a professional admit to the effect the trauma piled upon trauma had on his long term mental health, it does much to take away the stigma of the condition.
I did find that it glossed over much of the procedures and the interminable waits for histology and toxicology. The progression of the field through the changes in forensic techniques and the development of DNA analysis was interesting but was very much a generalised overview without covering the pitfalls of depending on these techniques. This is not always the case and Dr Shepherd is not afraid to point out things that have been wrong in the past with the way investigations in to disasters have been carried out, especially those he was involved in himself.
On the whole it is well told and the author has a strong voice throughout. There is a bit of jumping around the timeline which can be disorientating and it is clear that this book is more or less written as a therapeutic aid rather than an out and out biography. It also left me with questions about many of the natural death cases investigated and, especially, those home deaths that were less clear cut. I was hoping for more of an examination of how these people could have met their demise, more along the lines of Autopsy, The Last Hours Of series which Dr Shepherd himself fronted (indeed, this was the very reason I bought the book). Unfortunately, if that is what you are looking for you will not find it here.
There is a rather prurient interest in reading this kind of book, one that we are often loathe to admit to ourselves let alone others. A sort of feeling that by facing what can happen means it won't happen to us. This book reminds us that it can happen to anyone - post mortems aren't exclusively for victims of crime, they are for anyone who dies without a clear cause of death (not covered here are the quite rigorous set of rules that govern what this entails - usually sudden death or a death not expected from a diagnosed condition) and even if the cause seems clear to the families the medical profession may not be as certain and so under the knife we go. As you can tell I have experience of this profession from both a member of a deceased person's family and as a former Funeral Director.
It pleased me that the description of a morgue was accurate, along with the strong sense of camaraderie and humour that permeates these places. Due respect is shown to the deceased but without humour you would find yourself in a very dark place emotionally very quickly; although the two I frequented ran on coffee and not tea but biscuits were in constant supply and good ones too. This comes across very strongly in this book and it was refreshing to see a professional admit to the effect the trauma piled upon trauma had on his long term mental health, it does much to take away the stigma of the condition.
I did find that it glossed over much of the procedures and the interminable waits for histology and toxicology. The progression of the field through the changes in forensic techniques and the development of DNA analysis was interesting but was very much a generalised overview without covering the pitfalls of depending on these techniques. This is not always the case and Dr Shepherd is not afraid to point out things that have been wrong in the past with the way investigations in to disasters have been carried out, especially those he was involved in himself.
On the whole it is well told and the author has a strong voice throughout. There is a bit of jumping around the timeline which can be disorientating and it is clear that this book is more or less written as a therapeutic aid rather than an out and out biography. It also left me with questions about many of the natural death cases investigated and, especially, those home deaths that were less clear cut. I was hoping for more of an examination of how these people could have met their demise, more along the lines of Autopsy, The Last Hours Of series which Dr Shepherd himself fronted (indeed, this was the very reason I bought the book). Unfortunately, if that is what you are looking for you will not find it here.
Unscripted by Claire Handscombe
2.5 Stars
I think I really need to read the publisher's blurb more carefully; for some reason I expected this book to be more of a psychological thriller or maybe an examination of the nature of obsession. Instead, it is a very loose rendering of a romantic comedy. When I say loose, I mean almost entirely devoid of both elements. What is supposed to come across as comedy fell very flat for this reader and seemed to rely almost entirely on mockery of one character or another and the romance is actually very disturbing.
The biggest question I had was all centred around Libby friends. Apparently they have all been friends since their Cambridge days and have managed to keep in touch over the years since they finished their degree courses and moved in to the world of work. Behind her back Libby's friends despair of her complete obsession with actor Thom (yes, the spelling does irritate me - it isn't quirky or cute, it is downright annoying) but to her face actually support the madness. If they are such good friends why do they not instigate an intervention? Libby is exhibiting behaviour that is irrational and shows how emotionally stunted she is and this is the time when she needs her friends. Now, this, this I could have got behind but this "follow your dream deranged stalker" just left me feeling very, very uncomfortable.
Thom himself is your usual actor type, just seemingly without ego. Recently separated from his wife and mother of his 4 children - may even be divorced I was never quite clear and by this point in the book I wasn't really too fussed to be honest. Struggling after his popular series comes to an end he is still chasing that "big break" and doing the interview circuit. After an Alumni evening at Kings' in Cambridge he meets Libby and things just get stranger and stranger from a reality point of view.
Dan, one of Libby's circle of friends, is a complete milquetoast. Whilst his devotion is admirable it is almost as disturbing as Libby's behaviour. He, at least, tries to distance himself from Libby but doesn't really succeed as he allows himself to be dragged in to her orbit time after time.
The only character I could really get behind is Ebba. Ebba the former ballerina (never professionally) turned actress whose biography provides a turning point for Libby. She is the only character who really had layers and real depth to her, even if she also suffers from a certain amount of gullibility where Libby is concerned at least the character acknowledges this and can explain her irrationality.
On the whole this was not the book for me as I found that the pathology of the characters was unsettling and, in some cases, borderline psychotic. If this was the basis of the book this would have been fine and there would have been some sort of resolution. Unfortunately that is not the point of the book and we seem to be instructed to ignore the giant issues facing our main cast and to treat their issues as being just quirks.
THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA THE PIGEONHOLE.
I think I really need to read the publisher's blurb more carefully; for some reason I expected this book to be more of a psychological thriller or maybe an examination of the nature of obsession. Instead, it is a very loose rendering of a romantic comedy. When I say loose, I mean almost entirely devoid of both elements. What is supposed to come across as comedy fell very flat for this reader and seemed to rely almost entirely on mockery of one character or another and the romance is actually very disturbing.
The biggest question I had was all centred around Libby friends. Apparently they have all been friends since their Cambridge days and have managed to keep in touch over the years since they finished their degree courses and moved in to the world of work. Behind her back Libby's friends despair of her complete obsession with actor Thom (yes, the spelling does irritate me - it isn't quirky or cute, it is downright annoying) but to her face actually support the madness. If they are such good friends why do they not instigate an intervention? Libby is exhibiting behaviour that is irrational and shows how emotionally stunted she is and this is the time when she needs her friends. Now, this, this I could have got behind but this "follow your dream deranged stalker" just left me feeling very, very uncomfortable.
Thom himself is your usual actor type, just seemingly without ego. Recently separated from his wife and mother of his 4 children - may even be divorced I was never quite clear and by this point in the book I wasn't really too fussed to be honest. Struggling after his popular series comes to an end he is still chasing that "big break" and doing the interview circuit. After an Alumni evening at Kings' in Cambridge he meets Libby and things just get stranger and stranger from a reality point of view.
Dan, one of Libby's circle of friends, is a complete milquetoast. Whilst his devotion is admirable it is almost as disturbing as Libby's behaviour. He, at least, tries to distance himself from Libby but doesn't really succeed as he allows himself to be dragged in to her orbit time after time.
The only character I could really get behind is Ebba. Ebba the former ballerina (never professionally) turned actress whose biography provides a turning point for Libby. She is the only character who really had layers and real depth to her, even if she also suffers from a certain amount of gullibility where Libby is concerned at least the character acknowledges this and can explain her irrationality.
On the whole this was not the book for me as I found that the pathology of the characters was unsettling and, in some cases, borderline psychotic. If this was the basis of the book this would have been fine and there would have been some sort of resolution. Unfortunately that is not the point of the book and we seem to be instructed to ignore the giant issues facing our main cast and to treat their issues as being just quirks.
THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA THE PIGEONHOLE.
Tuesday, 9 April 2019
The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary
What an emotional wringer this book puts you through. There is an enormous amount of joy in this book, despite covering some quite emotive subjects the writing itself is warm and full of a soft, dry wit. The reading experience was one where I actually felt cosseted by the book and I just know this will be a go to pick me up book. Really this is quite odd as it deals with some quite difficult subjects - relationship breakdown, emotional abuse, life threatening illness, miscarriage of justice and just the general slog of trying to make ends meet. It isn't one of those books that shies away from things going wrong for the characters, veracity is paramount throughout. Maybe that is why I enjoyed it as much as I did and seeing as I read 300+ pages in one sitting it is safe to say I REALLY enjoyed it.
Tiffy has a great job - Assistant Editor at a Publishing House. Unfortunately, they publish rather niche DIY jobs so it has little in the way of glamour, prestige or anything like a living wage. She has also found herself needing to rent somewhere in London for £400 a month - an exceptionally tall order.
Leon has a tough job - night shift Palliative Care Nurse at a local hospice. He is not much of a one for talking and has an issue with using personal pronouns but does seem to be genuinely good at his job. Somehow he needs to scrape together an extra £350 for Sal and he can't keep asking his girlfriend, Kay, for the money.
So, the meet cute is set up for Tiffy and Leon. Except they don't meet. They share a flat, they share a bed, they write notes but they have never met.
Very odd set up but somehow by the time you get 150 pages in, it all seems perfectly normal. To be honest, I think if you are in a similar situation this could actually work and is a clever work around - then again I work night shifts so I never know what day of the week it is, let alone figure out anything more complicated. As their separate tales unfold you realise that they are both carrying around quite a lot of excess baggage of varying types but their struggles are related so matter of factly that the character's voice is allowed to come through.
With a varied supporting cast, including the glorious crocheting Katherin, you get a glimpse of real lives that reflect many of our own experiences. The real star of the story though is the humble Post It Note (other brands of sticky note are available); without it there really isn't a story. I could happily sit here and discuss the plot scene by scene or speculate on certain character's behaviour at certain times but then why would you need to read this book?
Trust me if you like no nonsense characters, if you like a little romance and you like a lot of friendship then this would be a wonderful read for you. If you like Trisha Ashley, Katie Fforde or Jilly Cooper (and I love all 3) then I am pretty sure you will inhale this book in great big chunks of enjoyment.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED FROM READERS FIRST.
Tiffy has a great job - Assistant Editor at a Publishing House. Unfortunately, they publish rather niche DIY jobs so it has little in the way of glamour, prestige or anything like a living wage. She has also found herself needing to rent somewhere in London for £400 a month - an exceptionally tall order.
Leon has a tough job - night shift Palliative Care Nurse at a local hospice. He is not much of a one for talking and has an issue with using personal pronouns but does seem to be genuinely good at his job. Somehow he needs to scrape together an extra £350 for Sal and he can't keep asking his girlfriend, Kay, for the money.
So, the meet cute is set up for Tiffy and Leon. Except they don't meet. They share a flat, they share a bed, they write notes but they have never met.
Very odd set up but somehow by the time you get 150 pages in, it all seems perfectly normal. To be honest, I think if you are in a similar situation this could actually work and is a clever work around - then again I work night shifts so I never know what day of the week it is, let alone figure out anything more complicated. As their separate tales unfold you realise that they are both carrying around quite a lot of excess baggage of varying types but their struggles are related so matter of factly that the character's voice is allowed to come through.
With a varied supporting cast, including the glorious crocheting Katherin, you get a glimpse of real lives that reflect many of our own experiences. The real star of the story though is the humble Post It Note (other brands of sticky note are available); without it there really isn't a story. I could happily sit here and discuss the plot scene by scene or speculate on certain character's behaviour at certain times but then why would you need to read this book?
Trust me if you like no nonsense characters, if you like a little romance and you like a lot of friendship then this would be a wonderful read for you. If you like Trisha Ashley, Katie Fforde or Jilly Cooper (and I love all 3) then I am pretty sure you will inhale this book in great big chunks of enjoyment.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED FROM READERS FIRST.
Fled by Meg Keneally
As my friend Jane would say - What A Book!
It is hard to warrant that this is a first novel as the storytelling is compelling, the characters are rich and vibrant, the pacing is absolutely spot on. It really does drag you in to the tale and you can even get the odd evocative whiff of the sea whilst reading (and some other things as well but they are nowhere near as pleasant). Although based on the tale of a real woman, the author admits to taking a lot of latitude with the facts (slim as they are) and this has led to a wonderfully detailed and enveloping story.
Jenny comes from a small, coastal Devon village and has been fishing since she could walk. When her father suffers a fatal accident at sea she is left with a sister who has to move from home to work and a mother smothered under a pall of grief. In order to keep body and soul together she falls (quite literally) in to a life of crime. A life that will lead her to either the gallows or transportation. Jenny is lucky and gets sentenced to seven years transportation but this is the early years and there are, as yet, no settlements in the Antipodes and conditions are, shall we say challenging.
We go through the whole journey with Jenny. From beloved daughter, to criminal, to the horror of the cramped quarters in the hulk, to the worse horrors of the brig that takes them on an interminable ocean voyage. Friendships are forged, enemies are made and Jenny takes control of her destiny in the only way a woman could in those days by using her wits and her body. All the way through I could not help but cheer her on. Whether meeting local tribespeople or enrapturing Officers of the Fleet she is a tour de force.
The cast of supporting characters is vast and nuanced, from fellow transportees to officers and through on to gaolers and lawyers they all have that little something about them that brings them to life for the reader. The living conditions are well described without descending in to mawkishness or salacious unnecessary detail which I find often happens in lesser hands than those of this author.
Simply a fantastically absorbing book that I really did not want to finish.
A word of advice though don't read the author notes on the real inspiration for Jenny before you read the book - it does give away some cataclysmic events that befall the transportees. Normally when reading a fictionalised account of a real person's life (Lyndsay Jayne Ashford does this genre so well) I will read the notes first as they set the scene nicely for what I am about to read. Unfortunately Ms Keneally gives away a little too much of the plot for them to be read first without spoiling the twists of the tale.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED FROM READERS FIRST.
It is hard to warrant that this is a first novel as the storytelling is compelling, the characters are rich and vibrant, the pacing is absolutely spot on. It really does drag you in to the tale and you can even get the odd evocative whiff of the sea whilst reading (and some other things as well but they are nowhere near as pleasant). Although based on the tale of a real woman, the author admits to taking a lot of latitude with the facts (slim as they are) and this has led to a wonderfully detailed and enveloping story.
Jenny comes from a small, coastal Devon village and has been fishing since she could walk. When her father suffers a fatal accident at sea she is left with a sister who has to move from home to work and a mother smothered under a pall of grief. In order to keep body and soul together she falls (quite literally) in to a life of crime. A life that will lead her to either the gallows or transportation. Jenny is lucky and gets sentenced to seven years transportation but this is the early years and there are, as yet, no settlements in the Antipodes and conditions are, shall we say challenging.
We go through the whole journey with Jenny. From beloved daughter, to criminal, to the horror of the cramped quarters in the hulk, to the worse horrors of the brig that takes them on an interminable ocean voyage. Friendships are forged, enemies are made and Jenny takes control of her destiny in the only way a woman could in those days by using her wits and her body. All the way through I could not help but cheer her on. Whether meeting local tribespeople or enrapturing Officers of the Fleet she is a tour de force.
The cast of supporting characters is vast and nuanced, from fellow transportees to officers and through on to gaolers and lawyers they all have that little something about them that brings them to life for the reader. The living conditions are well described without descending in to mawkishness or salacious unnecessary detail which I find often happens in lesser hands than those of this author.
Simply a fantastically absorbing book that I really did not want to finish.
A word of advice though don't read the author notes on the real inspiration for Jenny before you read the book - it does give away some cataclysmic events that befall the transportees. Normally when reading a fictionalised account of a real person's life (Lyndsay Jayne Ashford does this genre so well) I will read the notes first as they set the scene nicely for what I am about to read. Unfortunately Ms Keneally gives away a little too much of the plot for them to be read first without spoiling the twists of the tale.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED FROM READERS FIRST.
The Impossible Climb by Mark Synott
Let me preface this review by stating that I have no interest whatsoever in climbing; to be entirely honest I have always viewed it as being a rather peculiar thing to want to do. In fact, like all extreme sports, I tend to tut and shake my head in a resigned and derogatory fashion if it should ever be mentioned. Fortunately, this a rare occurence living somewhere that doesn't really lend it self to such pursuits. This novel occupies a peculiar slot as it is part autobiography, part biography, part history and part instruction manual.
So, having no interest in the sport why did I pick up the book? It is very simple really, the writing grabs you and just refuses to let go. Even the more technical sections dealing with equipment or climbing methods are fairly easy to follow for a person with no prior knowledge and, somehow, I assume they will not patronise someone more familiar. Whilst it hasn't converted me in to someone who would begin to contemplate even gym climbing it has given me an understanding of the motivation to scale what looks like the untrained eye a sheer wall of rock.
There are certainly some characters in the book. From the author, Mark Synott, himself and through a whole plethora of what can only be described as surfer-type hippie dudes (the Stonemasters) and through to Alex Honnold himself. It must be said the discussion of the early years for both the author and Alex are some of the best in the book but there is a lot of good character based writing here about a whole cast of people. The mountains themselves become distinct characters in the book and, judging by the affection which the author gives them, I am pretty sure to those involved in the climbing fraternity they are as alive as they are.
I will readily admit to cheating when I started reading the book - I wanted to know if Alex had managed this seemingly impossible feat or if the book was to end in disaster. Somehow I wanted the drama to be less about the final guts or glory moment and more about the journey. Somehow I think the author did too as much of the book is about other climbs and other climbers.
The writing style is a real joy to read, open and with plenty of wit. The author really does bring the climbing lifestyle to life on the page; admittedly he does glorify it a little bit, but as he has such passion for the subject I can understand that. For a non-climber this was a completely engrossing and instructive read.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED FROM READERS FIRST.
So, having no interest in the sport why did I pick up the book? It is very simple really, the writing grabs you and just refuses to let go. Even the more technical sections dealing with equipment or climbing methods are fairly easy to follow for a person with no prior knowledge and, somehow, I assume they will not patronise someone more familiar. Whilst it hasn't converted me in to someone who would begin to contemplate even gym climbing it has given me an understanding of the motivation to scale what looks like the untrained eye a sheer wall of rock.
There are certainly some characters in the book. From the author, Mark Synott, himself and through a whole plethora of what can only be described as surfer-type hippie dudes (the Stonemasters) and through to Alex Honnold himself. It must be said the discussion of the early years for both the author and Alex are some of the best in the book but there is a lot of good character based writing here about a whole cast of people. The mountains themselves become distinct characters in the book and, judging by the affection which the author gives them, I am pretty sure to those involved in the climbing fraternity they are as alive as they are.
I will readily admit to cheating when I started reading the book - I wanted to know if Alex had managed this seemingly impossible feat or if the book was to end in disaster. Somehow I wanted the drama to be less about the final guts or glory moment and more about the journey. Somehow I think the author did too as much of the book is about other climbs and other climbers.
The writing style is a real joy to read, open and with plenty of wit. The author really does bring the climbing lifestyle to life on the page; admittedly he does glorify it a little bit, but as he has such passion for the subject I can understand that. For a non-climber this was a completely engrossing and instructive read.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED FROM READERS FIRST.
Ayesha At Last by Uzma Jalaluddin
This novel is very much an Islamic take on Pride and Pejudice (in fact Jane Austen's novel gets a couple of name checks throughout). It has everything you would expect from that analogy - the (truth universally acknowledged) search for a life partner, the struggles of class, the place of a woman in the world and rather than a sisterly struggle to the altar there are the battling cousins. Told with a wit and warmth that brings the characters alive on the page it wasn't until a few days after completing this book that I actually realised the parallels.
You very quickly get drawn in to the world that Ayesha and Khalid inhabit and find yourself firmly rooting for both characters. Ayesha, herself, is a very modern woman with her school teaching career and desire to be a poet. Despite being relatively young she feels that she is somewhat on the shelf having reached 27 without a sniff of marriage. The conflict she feels about this is clear, but she isn't really sure that an arranged marriage is for her and is unsure about how to go about the world of dating.
Khalid is very sure about arranged marriage and, as a devout Muslim, he is more than happy to allow his mother to find his wife for him. Indeed, it is his very devoutness that causes him problems - from his clothing, his beard, down to his refusal to shake hands with women.
Each character in the book is rich and detailed. Unfortunately this holds as true for the self-centred Hafsa and the extremely dodgy Tarek as it does for Ayesha and Khalid. Even supplemental characters are given flesh on their literary bones. Couple this with a strong plot that covers everything about the arranged marriage system, immigration issues and the ways in which Religion can impact life; there is a lot going on in this book. But you never feel like you are outside the lives of Ayesha and Khalid, in fact you revel in them.
The writing itself is warm and invites you in to this Desi world and makes you desperately want to stay for at least a cup of chai and a paratha. The dialogue between characters is warm and feels real - from awkward encounters to teasing exchanges they all sing off the page with a distinct whiff of veracity.
This is definitely an author to watch!
THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA THE PIGEONHOLE
You very quickly get drawn in to the world that Ayesha and Khalid inhabit and find yourself firmly rooting for both characters. Ayesha, herself, is a very modern woman with her school teaching career and desire to be a poet. Despite being relatively young she feels that she is somewhat on the shelf having reached 27 without a sniff of marriage. The conflict she feels about this is clear, but she isn't really sure that an arranged marriage is for her and is unsure about how to go about the world of dating.
Khalid is very sure about arranged marriage and, as a devout Muslim, he is more than happy to allow his mother to find his wife for him. Indeed, it is his very devoutness that causes him problems - from his clothing, his beard, down to his refusal to shake hands with women.
Each character in the book is rich and detailed. Unfortunately this holds as true for the self-centred Hafsa and the extremely dodgy Tarek as it does for Ayesha and Khalid. Even supplemental characters are given flesh on their literary bones. Couple this with a strong plot that covers everything about the arranged marriage system, immigration issues and the ways in which Religion can impact life; there is a lot going on in this book. But you never feel like you are outside the lives of Ayesha and Khalid, in fact you revel in them.
The writing itself is warm and invites you in to this Desi world and makes you desperately want to stay for at least a cup of chai and a paratha. The dialogue between characters is warm and feels real - from awkward encounters to teasing exchanges they all sing off the page with a distinct whiff of veracity.
This is definitely an author to watch!
THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA THE PIGEONHOLE
Tuesday, 2 April 2019
The Muse by Jessie Burton
3.5 Stars
I found myself a little disappointed, overall, in this book. Whilst I enjoyed Odelle's story in particular I found myself becoming increasingly frustrated with Olive and started to skim read her sections. I have read a few books centred around the Spanish Civil War and it just seems to be a period of history that is unable to capture my imagination or hold my interest. It doesn't help that I found Olive to have few redeeming characteristics and, to me, she cam across as completely manipulative, selfish and entitled. Everything I can see (from the words on the page) that we are not supposed to really be feeling about her; nevertheless that is how she made me feel.
I was far more interested in Odelle's 1960s London. There was so much left unexplored here that it left me quite frustrated. She is clearly a person of colour, a post-Windrush immigrant that was in a city that was close to embracing segregation and yet this is barely touched on, there are a couple of nods to it but nods are all they are and yet the prevailing attitudes towards the Irish and Coloured (can we use that word now? I use it here because it is contemporary with the setting of the book and less unpalatable than the other most common name bandied about) immigrants were harsh and would have had a major impact on their lives. In some ways Odelle is really just a foil to get Jack's painting seen by the gallery and to expose Olive's story.
I also wanted to know much more about the enigmatic, gin swilling, chain smoking Marjorie Quick. Whilst it is true that towards the end of the book we learn much more about her personal history there is so much left unsaid about how she got where she is. Information that I found myself wanting to know, to immerse myself in.
Basically, too much time was spent lingering in a parched Spain with Olive, her dissipated mother, distant father, the rebellious Isaac and the disaster zone that was Tere. These were a cast of characters that, whilst I understand their importance to the tale, I learned far too much about and was forced in to the company of. All I really wanted was a swinging Sixties London and the glorious Odelle.
I found myself a little disappointed, overall, in this book. Whilst I enjoyed Odelle's story in particular I found myself becoming increasingly frustrated with Olive and started to skim read her sections. I have read a few books centred around the Spanish Civil War and it just seems to be a period of history that is unable to capture my imagination or hold my interest. It doesn't help that I found Olive to have few redeeming characteristics and, to me, she cam across as completely manipulative, selfish and entitled. Everything I can see (from the words on the page) that we are not supposed to really be feeling about her; nevertheless that is how she made me feel.
I was far more interested in Odelle's 1960s London. There was so much left unexplored here that it left me quite frustrated. She is clearly a person of colour, a post-Windrush immigrant that was in a city that was close to embracing segregation and yet this is barely touched on, there are a couple of nods to it but nods are all they are and yet the prevailing attitudes towards the Irish and Coloured (can we use that word now? I use it here because it is contemporary with the setting of the book and less unpalatable than the other most common name bandied about) immigrants were harsh and would have had a major impact on their lives. In some ways Odelle is really just a foil to get Jack's painting seen by the gallery and to expose Olive's story.
I also wanted to know much more about the enigmatic, gin swilling, chain smoking Marjorie Quick. Whilst it is true that towards the end of the book we learn much more about her personal history there is so much left unsaid about how she got where she is. Information that I found myself wanting to know, to immerse myself in.
Basically, too much time was spent lingering in a parched Spain with Olive, her dissipated mother, distant father, the rebellious Isaac and the disaster zone that was Tere. These were a cast of characters that, whilst I understand their importance to the tale, I learned far too much about and was forced in to the company of. All I really wanted was a swinging Sixties London and the glorious Odelle.
Ivy Lane by Cathy Bramley
This is quite a fun and light hearted read that I found easy to pick up in odd moments whilst on holiday recently. It is one of those strange books where nothing really happens but everything happens; if you know what I mean. Unfortunately, I found that some of what did happen just stretched my belief too far and I am still trying to figure out what Tilly and Aidan saw in each other and why they both seem to feel they have this grand, fated attraction to each other - it doesn't tally with their personalities and the "romance" doesn't so much blossom as go from seedling to full bloom in less than the blink of an eye. Very peculiar and it did spoil my overall enjoyment of the book.
The characters in the book are really wonderfully crafted and feel like real people, with all their foibles and biases. The author even allows them to express parts of themselves that we like to keep hidden - ingrained prejudices, judgement of others, selfishness - without turning them in to monsters. I don't think there was one character in the book that I didn't like. Charlie is a good case study of character - it would have been so easy to turn him to some kind of stalkery monster but he is completely empathetic and the damage his spouse did to him looms so large that you actually understand why he acts as he does. It doesn't excuse his actions but it explains them and the reader is left to judge him and I liked that I wasn't told explicitly how to feel about this character.
It is clear from the start that we are supposed to root for Tilly and, to some extent, I did. Luckily I have never been in her situation and found myself unable to put myself in to her shoes as I just felt there was some disconnect between reader and character. She always felt a little like a set of circumstances rather than a person, which is a real shame as the book hinges on her character and she was perhaps the least believable of the lot (except for the god-like Aidan).
I did enjoy the way the author linked the growth of the allotments through the seasons to the people Ivy Lane Allotments are populated with. It was subtly handled and you don't really realise it until after you have finished reading that the book is full of metaphor and parallels between the produce and the people. There is also no shying away from the natural cycle of birth and death in the book and all the little pieces of ourselves we lose inbetween.
There are also a few, admittedly small, plot inconsistencies that are no doubt down to this being previously released as a four part serialisation. The most glaring is that there are plots free on the allotment and then in another quarter there is suddenly a waiting list for people to join despite the empty plots. For some reason this irrationally annoyed me.
Not the best Cathy Bramley I have read but it is warm and funny and I did enjoy it (on the whole).
The characters in the book are really wonderfully crafted and feel like real people, with all their foibles and biases. The author even allows them to express parts of themselves that we like to keep hidden - ingrained prejudices, judgement of others, selfishness - without turning them in to monsters. I don't think there was one character in the book that I didn't like. Charlie is a good case study of character - it would have been so easy to turn him to some kind of stalkery monster but he is completely empathetic and the damage his spouse did to him looms so large that you actually understand why he acts as he does. It doesn't excuse his actions but it explains them and the reader is left to judge him and I liked that I wasn't told explicitly how to feel about this character.
It is clear from the start that we are supposed to root for Tilly and, to some extent, I did. Luckily I have never been in her situation and found myself unable to put myself in to her shoes as I just felt there was some disconnect between reader and character. She always felt a little like a set of circumstances rather than a person, which is a real shame as the book hinges on her character and she was perhaps the least believable of the lot (except for the god-like Aidan).
I did enjoy the way the author linked the growth of the allotments through the seasons to the people Ivy Lane Allotments are populated with. It was subtly handled and you don't really realise it until after you have finished reading that the book is full of metaphor and parallels between the produce and the people. There is also no shying away from the natural cycle of birth and death in the book and all the little pieces of ourselves we lose inbetween.
There are also a few, admittedly small, plot inconsistencies that are no doubt down to this being previously released as a four part serialisation. The most glaring is that there are plots free on the allotment and then in another quarter there is suddenly a waiting list for people to join despite the empty plots. For some reason this irrationally annoyed me.
Not the best Cathy Bramley I have read but it is warm and funny and I did enjoy it (on the whole).
I'm Fine and Neither Are You by Camille Pagan
2.5 Stars
This book is supposed to be about the masks we put on every day, to the world at large, our co-workers, our friends and our loved ones. The pretences we make so that we appear to be "doing just fine thanks", the perfection we make our lives out to be on Social Media. How we are not honest with anyone, least of all ourselves. For me it was more about a whiny, entitled woman who wanted everything everyone else appeared to have without examining what she did have.
Penny just about drove me around the twist, how her husband (whose name I now find difficult to remember) had stuck with her for 11(?) years of marriage I cannot begin to fathom. She plays the martyr card about the state of their marriage, how she has to do everything - including support the family whilst he does everything to avoid growing up. Poor Penny is struggling to juggle work and motherhood and having a social life and having a marriage. I know this is a real struggle for many people (not just women - men struggle with these things too) but in Penny's case if she just stopped being so selfish and got out of her own head things would improve exponentially. Unfortunately it takes a cataclysmic event affecting her best friend Jenny to shake her out of herself.
As you can probably tell by the above I really, really did not like the main character at all. The writing itself has a good flow and there is a dry wit lurking in there which did bring a smile to my face at times. It also deals with some genuine 21st Century issues, especially the subjugation of self and the need to appear "perfect" to absolutely everyone at all times. It also manages to give a little kernel of hope as Penny and husband work through what is damaging their marriage with each other. The problem for me was that I really thought they would have been better splitting up and probably seeking psychiatric counselling from a professional rather than muddling their way through.
The juxtaposition between Jenny and Penny is nicely handled and the aftermath of "the incident" does illuminate how little we can believe what we read and see on Social Media. I haven't re-read the blurb for this book so I can't remember if the nature of Jenny's trauma is flagged up so I am trying my best not give it away here. Suffice to say it does throw up some parallels with some of the issues facing the US Medical System at the moment.
Ms Pagan is clearly an accomplished writer but this novel just wasn't for me.
This book is supposed to be about the masks we put on every day, to the world at large, our co-workers, our friends and our loved ones. The pretences we make so that we appear to be "doing just fine thanks", the perfection we make our lives out to be on Social Media. How we are not honest with anyone, least of all ourselves. For me it was more about a whiny, entitled woman who wanted everything everyone else appeared to have without examining what she did have.
Penny just about drove me around the twist, how her husband (whose name I now find difficult to remember) had stuck with her for 11(?) years of marriage I cannot begin to fathom. She plays the martyr card about the state of their marriage, how she has to do everything - including support the family whilst he does everything to avoid growing up. Poor Penny is struggling to juggle work and motherhood and having a social life and having a marriage. I know this is a real struggle for many people (not just women - men struggle with these things too) but in Penny's case if she just stopped being so selfish and got out of her own head things would improve exponentially. Unfortunately it takes a cataclysmic event affecting her best friend Jenny to shake her out of herself.
As you can probably tell by the above I really, really did not like the main character at all. The writing itself has a good flow and there is a dry wit lurking in there which did bring a smile to my face at times. It also deals with some genuine 21st Century issues, especially the subjugation of self and the need to appear "perfect" to absolutely everyone at all times. It also manages to give a little kernel of hope as Penny and husband work through what is damaging their marriage with each other. The problem for me was that I really thought they would have been better splitting up and probably seeking psychiatric counselling from a professional rather than muddling their way through.
The juxtaposition between Jenny and Penny is nicely handled and the aftermath of "the incident" does illuminate how little we can believe what we read and see on Social Media. I haven't re-read the blurb for this book so I can't remember if the nature of Jenny's trauma is flagged up so I am trying my best not give it away here. Suffice to say it does throw up some parallels with some of the issues facing the US Medical System at the moment.
Ms Pagan is clearly an accomplished writer but this novel just wasn't for me.
The Dangerous Kind by Deborah O'Connor
This book starts off so strongly and weaves several storylines together in a convincing way.
First up we have Jessamine. A journalist, working on a long running radio series that explores the nature of criminality. Adoptive mother to Sarah and seemingly quite a relaxed mother who allows her teen a LOT of latitude. When Cassie Scolari goes missing she gets dragged in to the investigation by Cassie's friend and her whole life seems to go off the rails. The character herself is supposed to be a mix of tough but vulnerable (expressed through her disastrous love life) but she came across, to this reader, as plain annoying.
Then we have Jitesh. Technical "genius" who has deferred his first year at Cambridge after a tough time in his last year at school. Desperate to fit in Jitesh takes to hacking to help him relate to people - yes, this is as creepy as it sounds. When he gets an internship at the BBC, he meets Jessamine and gets drawn in to the mysterious disappearence. Damaged beyond belief Jitesh supposedly has a "good heart" but, for me, he came across as being extremely scary and one of The Dangerous Kind that the book blurb warns us about.
Our third main player is Rowena. Rowena's story is all told in flashback. A flashback of her early teens in care where she moves in to the orbit of a grooming ring and is terribly abused physically and emotionally by these men. Having watched Three Girls, Rowena's story feels authentic but I did wonder if that TV programme was the inspiration behind the whole book with a few dollops of Operation Yewtree thrown in for spice. Rowena is perhaps the best drawn character of the book and you do feel genuine empathy for her throughout.
I really enjoyed the first three quarters of the book. Fast paced and swapping between character viewpoints was handled well, just the right amount of cliffhanger as we left each one. Each voice is different on the page and has something to add to the plotline of the book. Unfortunately, it then got a little bit "silly" and Jessamine in particular acts completely out of character - for most of the book she is hardly what you would expect from an investigative journalist and suddenly she turns in to Jeremy Paxman. The resolution of her daughter's storyline also becomes a real stretch of veracity, which doesn't help matters.
I will be entirely honest here and say I think that I may have over-starred this book and that it may not be as good as I seem to have thought it was. You see, my judgement could be coloured as I read this in a stave-format with an online book club and the chat as we were reading definitely improved the experience of the book itself. We debated the possible twists the book could take, why a character was acting that way and strange things like whether red or brown sauce on a sausage sandwich. The community may well have made this book better than it really was. Also, halfway through I realised that I have the author's first book and I really didn't enjoy that one - so much so I didn't finish it and have put it back on my TBR pile. That has also coloured my judgement just a little but I tried to work past it and may have overcompensated.
THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA THE PIGEONHOLE.
First up we have Jessamine. A journalist, working on a long running radio series that explores the nature of criminality. Adoptive mother to Sarah and seemingly quite a relaxed mother who allows her teen a LOT of latitude. When Cassie Scolari goes missing she gets dragged in to the investigation by Cassie's friend and her whole life seems to go off the rails. The character herself is supposed to be a mix of tough but vulnerable (expressed through her disastrous love life) but she came across, to this reader, as plain annoying.
Then we have Jitesh. Technical "genius" who has deferred his first year at Cambridge after a tough time in his last year at school. Desperate to fit in Jitesh takes to hacking to help him relate to people - yes, this is as creepy as it sounds. When he gets an internship at the BBC, he meets Jessamine and gets drawn in to the mysterious disappearence. Damaged beyond belief Jitesh supposedly has a "good heart" but, for me, he came across as being extremely scary and one of The Dangerous Kind that the book blurb warns us about.
Our third main player is Rowena. Rowena's story is all told in flashback. A flashback of her early teens in care where she moves in to the orbit of a grooming ring and is terribly abused physically and emotionally by these men. Having watched Three Girls, Rowena's story feels authentic but I did wonder if that TV programme was the inspiration behind the whole book with a few dollops of Operation Yewtree thrown in for spice. Rowena is perhaps the best drawn character of the book and you do feel genuine empathy for her throughout.
I really enjoyed the first three quarters of the book. Fast paced and swapping between character viewpoints was handled well, just the right amount of cliffhanger as we left each one. Each voice is different on the page and has something to add to the plotline of the book. Unfortunately, it then got a little bit "silly" and Jessamine in particular acts completely out of character - for most of the book she is hardly what you would expect from an investigative journalist and suddenly she turns in to Jeremy Paxman. The resolution of her daughter's storyline also becomes a real stretch of veracity, which doesn't help matters.
I will be entirely honest here and say I think that I may have over-starred this book and that it may not be as good as I seem to have thought it was. You see, my judgement could be coloured as I read this in a stave-format with an online book club and the chat as we were reading definitely improved the experience of the book itself. We debated the possible twists the book could take, why a character was acting that way and strange things like whether red or brown sauce on a sausage sandwich. The community may well have made this book better than it really was. Also, halfway through I realised that I have the author's first book and I really didn't enjoy that one - so much so I didn't finish it and have put it back on my TBR pile. That has also coloured my judgement just a little but I tried to work past it and may have overcompensated.
THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA THE PIGEONHOLE.
Monday, 1 April 2019
Beneath The World, A Sea by Chris Beckett
2.5 Stars
This is a very peculiar book, and not necessarily in a good way. Rather than tell a straight forward story of the Submundo Delta and the surrounding Zona it very rapidly becomes an overly self-conscious examination of the human power to lie to itself. The allegory isn't at all subtle and leaps of the page to slap you around the face whilst joyously shouting "look at me, see what I did here". This did mean that some parts rapidly become turgid and I found myself skim reading to get to the next bit. Unfortunately, these were mainly the sections dealing with Ben Ronson who is the character we spend most of our time with.
The setting of The Delta is meticulously described so you get a real feel for this strange pink and purple fractal landscape balanced on its mat of roots above the The Lethe. The problem comes when every time one of the characters moves from the town on the rock to the forest we then get treated to another description of the helical flora and strange fauna. Once is enough and although intriguing on the first read of the description it soon becomes a frustration as it impinges on the story and after about 100 pages begins to seem like nothing more than a ploy to increase word count.
Probably because I became more and more disillusioned with the book as I read the naming of the river The Lethe also began to annoy me. We have The Zona which surround the Submundo Delta where you cannot remember what happened when you leave so why hammer this home by calling the river after Greek Mythology? It all began to feel very heavy handed and clumsy, not something I would have associated with this author.
There are traces of a good story here - the imported Mundino population and how they have created a whole religion and mythos to explain their existence in this strange place. The native Duendes that do very odd things to the human psyche (again the allegory between the landscape and the unfurling of innermost thoughts is laid on with a trowel). The violence of the Mundinos to the Duendes, the way in which the Delta has almost become a play ground for the rich Westerner (no mention of anything other than British, American and the odd South American or South African; so I can only deduce that every other Nationality has more sense than to visit).
Characterisation is sparse and I was left with the feeling that our cast had no real personal depth. Ben Ronson is the go-getting Policeman sent in to sort out the killing of the Duendes, he is supposed to be deep and conflicted but actually came across as leaden and quite boring (and likely in need of a good slap). Hyacinth the Anthropologist was just there and never really developed a personality. Jael and Rico were plain odd, although this is decidedly intentional. Justine and the other ex-pats living on the Rock come across as cowed by the strange Delta with their personalities wiped away to be left with only their fear and isolation.
The book is endlessly repetitive and never really seems to move forward or say anything much from a story point of view. The story is a thin veneer over the warning to beware of what we do to our planet, to be aware that people aren't who we may think they are - indeed we may not be who we think we are. It all gets a bit laboured and "sloggy". certainly not Mr Beckett's best.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA READERS FIRST.
This is a very peculiar book, and not necessarily in a good way. Rather than tell a straight forward story of the Submundo Delta and the surrounding Zona it very rapidly becomes an overly self-conscious examination of the human power to lie to itself. The allegory isn't at all subtle and leaps of the page to slap you around the face whilst joyously shouting "look at me, see what I did here". This did mean that some parts rapidly become turgid and I found myself skim reading to get to the next bit. Unfortunately, these were mainly the sections dealing with Ben Ronson who is the character we spend most of our time with.
The setting of The Delta is meticulously described so you get a real feel for this strange pink and purple fractal landscape balanced on its mat of roots above the The Lethe. The problem comes when every time one of the characters moves from the town on the rock to the forest we then get treated to another description of the helical flora and strange fauna. Once is enough and although intriguing on the first read of the description it soon becomes a frustration as it impinges on the story and after about 100 pages begins to seem like nothing more than a ploy to increase word count.
Probably because I became more and more disillusioned with the book as I read the naming of the river The Lethe also began to annoy me. We have The Zona which surround the Submundo Delta where you cannot remember what happened when you leave so why hammer this home by calling the river after Greek Mythology? It all began to feel very heavy handed and clumsy, not something I would have associated with this author.
There are traces of a good story here - the imported Mundino population and how they have created a whole religion and mythos to explain their existence in this strange place. The native Duendes that do very odd things to the human psyche (again the allegory between the landscape and the unfurling of innermost thoughts is laid on with a trowel). The violence of the Mundinos to the Duendes, the way in which the Delta has almost become a play ground for the rich Westerner (no mention of anything other than British, American and the odd South American or South African; so I can only deduce that every other Nationality has more sense than to visit).
Characterisation is sparse and I was left with the feeling that our cast had no real personal depth. Ben Ronson is the go-getting Policeman sent in to sort out the killing of the Duendes, he is supposed to be deep and conflicted but actually came across as leaden and quite boring (and likely in need of a good slap). Hyacinth the Anthropologist was just there and never really developed a personality. Jael and Rico were plain odd, although this is decidedly intentional. Justine and the other ex-pats living on the Rock come across as cowed by the strange Delta with their personalities wiped away to be left with only their fear and isolation.
The book is endlessly repetitive and never really seems to move forward or say anything much from a story point of view. The story is a thin veneer over the warning to beware of what we do to our planet, to be aware that people aren't who we may think they are - indeed we may not be who we think we are. It all gets a bit laboured and "sloggy". certainly not Mr Beckett's best.
THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA READERS FIRST.
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Lego Tony Stark's Sakaarian Iron Man 76194
I know nothing about the "What If" TV show but what I do know is that I absolutely LOVE Mechs and Lego always manage to put somet...
