3.5 Stars
Grace Dart is 16 and a bit of a hypochondriac - after a week in Southern Spain she is convinced that she has some rare tropical disease (ah the curse of googling symptoms!) and she admits to having her local doctor's surgery on speed dial. What we also need to know about Grace is that she is all about the future - everything is geared to that magical point in the future when she will have the perfect job and the perfect life to go with it. So you can imagine how cheated she feels when she thinks she is going to die just after taking her GCSEs - all that time wasted revising when she could have been living.
That, in a nutshell, is why Grace's very reason for living becomes all about seizing the moment. Admittedly, she still wants to plan her spontaneity but it's a start - right?
Told entirely from Grace's point of view the author gets a teenaged girls voice spot on. From the insecurities of what she is doing with her life and the dogged self deception to the wry humour. It perfectly captures family life and does make you grin along the way. From cutting friends out of your life because a "better offer" comes along to realising that what you see isn't necessarily the truth of someone else life and how to deal with loss it is all there and over the course of only 1 summer.
I genuinely enjoyed this novel, it did make me laugh as I could see some of my 16 year old self in Grace (sadly, not the studious bit). I'm not too sure how the 16 year olds would feel about the character but as someone who was 16 year and raised a child past 16 it certainly rang very true. I have to give a nod to the way Grace's coming out was handled - her parents going "yeah, we know" - was such an accepting way to handle the subject and one I only wish more LGBTQ people got to have as an experience.
Fun, frivolous and will happily fill a wet and rainy afternoon!
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
Monday, 6 August 2018
An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena
Having travelled to the remote Mitchell's Inn for a weekend getaway our cast of characters get far more than they baragained for as the wether closes in and cuts all connections with the "civilised" world. On arriving they already note there is no wifi and no mobile phone signal but after the ice storm of their first night there is no way to get away from the luxurious hotel. Thus is the setting for an old-fashioned murder mystery.
We are introduced relatively slowly to the main protagonists:
Gwen & Riley - Best friends and Riley has been having a very tough time of late so Gwen is treating her to a relaxing weekend away.
Lauren & Ian - Young couple on a romantic weekend break.
Dana & Matthew - Engaged couple having a pre-wedding honeymoon.
Beverly & Henry - Older couple with marital problems
James & Bradley - Owners of the family run hotel (father and son).
Candice - Author on a break to be able to finish her latest novel.
David - Single attorney taking a much needed break.
I don't think I've missed anyone out.
What you soon come to realise is that everyone has a secret and that some of them are really very large secrets to be keeping. The problem is that none of the secrets really tie in to the murders that have begun to happen in this remote getaway. I happened to guess who the culprit was more by a process of we know so little about this character it must be them rather than any deductive work based on the text - somehow this makes the whole murder mystery more frustrating than enjoyable.
My main issue with the story was the number of inconsistencies with the plot. admittedly none of these made a difference to who the perpetrator was or their reasons for it but they did feel to me like they were simply there to further the claustrophobia of the setting and felt completely unrealistic. First off this is a remote hotel in an area that suffers frequent snowfall - one of it's big draws apparently seems to be skiing - and yet they have no snowmobiles there that someone could have gone for help on. They also have some oil lamps for when the electricity goes off - we are told by James and Bradley that this is a fairly regular occurence - and yet they only have the oil that is already in them with no reserves to top them up; similarly no spare batteries for the torches. The hotel is freezing during the power outtage but surely in a property this old and remote the furnace would be oil or gas fired so why is there no heating or hot water? The worse crime for me - a sitting room appears on the second floor that isn;t there when the guests are doing a walkthrough of the hotel but then becomes a permanent fixture.
I know this all sounds a little bit petty and nit-picky but these inconsistencies genuinely spoilt the story for me. It was clear that they were only there to serve the plot but they made the whole thing vaguely ridiculous. This is a pity as there is some good tension building throughout and the play between characters is well drawn. Unfortunately, this led me to feeling so frustrated I would not be interested in reading any of this author's other works.
THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED THROUGH THE PIGEONHOLE.
We are introduced relatively slowly to the main protagonists:
Gwen & Riley - Best friends and Riley has been having a very tough time of late so Gwen is treating her to a relaxing weekend away.
Lauren & Ian - Young couple on a romantic weekend break.
Dana & Matthew - Engaged couple having a pre-wedding honeymoon.
Beverly & Henry - Older couple with marital problems
James & Bradley - Owners of the family run hotel (father and son).
Candice - Author on a break to be able to finish her latest novel.
David - Single attorney taking a much needed break.
I don't think I've missed anyone out.
What you soon come to realise is that everyone has a secret and that some of them are really very large secrets to be keeping. The problem is that none of the secrets really tie in to the murders that have begun to happen in this remote getaway. I happened to guess who the culprit was more by a process of we know so little about this character it must be them rather than any deductive work based on the text - somehow this makes the whole murder mystery more frustrating than enjoyable.
My main issue with the story was the number of inconsistencies with the plot. admittedly none of these made a difference to who the perpetrator was or their reasons for it but they did feel to me like they were simply there to further the claustrophobia of the setting and felt completely unrealistic. First off this is a remote hotel in an area that suffers frequent snowfall - one of it's big draws apparently seems to be skiing - and yet they have no snowmobiles there that someone could have gone for help on. They also have some oil lamps for when the electricity goes off - we are told by James and Bradley that this is a fairly regular occurence - and yet they only have the oil that is already in them with no reserves to top them up; similarly no spare batteries for the torches. The hotel is freezing during the power outtage but surely in a property this old and remote the furnace would be oil or gas fired so why is there no heating or hot water? The worse crime for me - a sitting room appears on the second floor that isn;t there when the guests are doing a walkthrough of the hotel but then becomes a permanent fixture.
I know this all sounds a little bit petty and nit-picky but these inconsistencies genuinely spoilt the story for me. It was clear that they were only there to serve the plot but they made the whole thing vaguely ridiculous. This is a pity as there is some good tension building throughout and the play between characters is well drawn. Unfortunately, this led me to feeling so frustrated I would not be interested in reading any of this author's other works.
THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED THROUGH THE PIGEONHOLE.
The 8 Mistakes Of Amy Maxwell by Heather Balog
This was actually quite a fun read with a good dose of humour; although if you don't have children a lot of that may pass you by. There is something about being a parent that makes your humour turn to the dark side and this book definitely taps in to that.
The first half of the tale is really just scene setting and letting us get to know Amy and her mildly disfunctional family. From a husband who disappears in to his mancave at every opportunity, a teenage daughter just about to move from Middle School to High School who has a major attitude problem, a second daughter who has no off switch, a 6 year old son who has a water aversion and a toddler who is obsessed with phones of all types. Amy may be a SAHM but she is always on the move. The situations she finds herself in are all perfectly normal, run of the mill daily things but Amy suffers from an overactive imagination and certainly overthinks things.
It is this that leads her to make all of her 8 mistakes that lead to her being tied to a chair in a remote cabin. No spoiler there, that is where we actually start the story. I did like that the it is the small things she latches on to as potential problems and the real big red warning light situations that just slip past her. Probably because I am a bit that way myself - ignore the big stuff and get all bent out of shape about the minutiae.
This was a pretty good read with an ensemble cast that is lively and even the bad guys have their warm moments. It doesn't grab you plot wise and keep you turning the pages but you do find an hour or so slipping by effortlessly as you read. I already have the second book in the series and I am quite looking forward to reading it - if for nothing else than to read about Amy's family.
The first half of the tale is really just scene setting and letting us get to know Amy and her mildly disfunctional family. From a husband who disappears in to his mancave at every opportunity, a teenage daughter just about to move from Middle School to High School who has a major attitude problem, a second daughter who has no off switch, a 6 year old son who has a water aversion and a toddler who is obsessed with phones of all types. Amy may be a SAHM but she is always on the move. The situations she finds herself in are all perfectly normal, run of the mill daily things but Amy suffers from an overactive imagination and certainly overthinks things.
It is this that leads her to make all of her 8 mistakes that lead to her being tied to a chair in a remote cabin. No spoiler there, that is where we actually start the story. I did like that the it is the small things she latches on to as potential problems and the real big red warning light situations that just slip past her. Probably because I am a bit that way myself - ignore the big stuff and get all bent out of shape about the minutiae.
This was a pretty good read with an ensemble cast that is lively and even the bad guys have their warm moments. It doesn't grab you plot wise and keep you turning the pages but you do find an hour or so slipping by effortlessly as you read. I already have the second book in the series and I am quite looking forward to reading it - if for nothing else than to read about Amy's family.
Sunday, 5 August 2018
The Island by M.A. Bennett
I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this book, the only let down for me was I figured out fairly on what was really going on and became a touch mad that the characters themselves hadn't cottoned on to it. I think if I hadn't figured that out until they did then this would have been a 5 Star book for me.
Our main protagonist is Lincoln Selkirk, Link to his family and friends - but wait, he doesn't have any of those. The character himself is warm, funny and endearingly nerdy and his voice is strong throughout the book. I particularly liked his self-deprecating humour and was more than happy to go along with world viewpoint and his assessment of his fellow schoolmates at Osney.
The device of using Desert Island Discs as a recurrent theme through the book works well as even if you've never listened to it (I haven't) you are still aware of it's existence and the general premise of the programme. Combine this with Link's love of The Count Of Monte Cristo, Lost and anything else that could be Robinsonade and you just know he is going to come good when they find themselves stranded on a desert island after a plane crash.
It works in the book's favour that Link is an honest narrator, even when he is behaving in a less than salubrious way - which even he admits - he is honest about what he is doing; even if his motives are rather murky at times. Somehow you still want him to win, to overcome and prove that sports are not all and that sometimes brain is better than brawn. Even if everything is not what it seems you still root for him.
The cast of supporting characters are well executed and come across well on the page, never quite slipping in to parody of type. It is even acknowledged by the characters themselves that they each fit a specific type a la The Breakfast Club (all hail John Hughes). Ultimately though, this doesn't really matter - what matters is it is a rippingly good yarn that keeps you entertained and reaching for that next chapter in a race against the clock.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
Our main protagonist is Lincoln Selkirk, Link to his family and friends - but wait, he doesn't have any of those. The character himself is warm, funny and endearingly nerdy and his voice is strong throughout the book. I particularly liked his self-deprecating humour and was more than happy to go along with world viewpoint and his assessment of his fellow schoolmates at Osney.
The device of using Desert Island Discs as a recurrent theme through the book works well as even if you've never listened to it (I haven't) you are still aware of it's existence and the general premise of the programme. Combine this with Link's love of The Count Of Monte Cristo, Lost and anything else that could be Robinsonade and you just know he is going to come good when they find themselves stranded on a desert island after a plane crash.
It works in the book's favour that Link is an honest narrator, even when he is behaving in a less than salubrious way - which even he admits - he is honest about what he is doing; even if his motives are rather murky at times. Somehow you still want him to win, to overcome and prove that sports are not all and that sometimes brain is better than brawn. Even if everything is not what it seems you still root for him.
The cast of supporting characters are well executed and come across well on the page, never quite slipping in to parody of type. It is even acknowledged by the characters themselves that they each fit a specific type a la The Breakfast Club (all hail John Hughes). Ultimately though, this doesn't really matter - what matters is it is a rippingly good yarn that keeps you entertained and reaching for that next chapter in a race against the clock.
I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
Supernova Hangover by Emma Jones
Set in the late 1990s and early 2000s this is a book about one young woman Toots Silver (really, it says Toots on your Birth Certificate?) who moves to London in the hopes of getting that big career break. There are a few characters that revolve around her:
Rachel - Her flatmate whom she met on the train to London and they decided to stick together to face the best and the worst that London could offer.
Roddy - Owner/Editor (I was never clear which) of the magazine that gives Toots her big break.
Adam - Photographer for said magazine.
Simon - Bon Viveur in the South Of France
Clay Allison - Movie Star
Now, here is the problem - with the exception of Adam they are all horrible people in one way or another. Hardly a redeeming feature between the lot of them. This is a huge problem because the story really relies on you getting behind Toots and hoping that it is all going to work out for her and she will make the right decisions when it counts. Instead I found myself hoping that she would fall under the nearest passing Routemaster.
The character of Roddy particularly annoys, he is such a stereotype that it is actually laughable. Yes, I am aware that a stereotype is there for a reason but nobody actually inhabits one 100% but he does. To some extent Rachel does too - she is so completely subsumed by the need to be seen as fashionable, on trend and to feel loved that she ticks every shallow, narcissistic box that there is. Similarly you never get the feeling that Clay is anything other than a two-dimensional poster of himself hung on Toots' wall that she has imagined in to being.
Now, I understand that the media world of this time period wasn't particularly salubrious and all sorts of dodgy dealings went on. What I don't understand is why everyone has to be so venal and dislikeable. I have read many a book with this sort of character in them and yet there has always been something that endears you to them, a sheen of literary charisma if you like but that is completely missing here. Maybe I just didn't get the memo about this book, but I really struggled to find much to enjoy about it.
I did flirt with a One Star review but there were some bits that I enjoyed in the book, just not very many of them.
THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE BOOK FROM THE PIGEONHOLE.
Rachel - Her flatmate whom she met on the train to London and they decided to stick together to face the best and the worst that London could offer.
Roddy - Owner/Editor (I was never clear which) of the magazine that gives Toots her big break.
Adam - Photographer for said magazine.
Simon - Bon Viveur in the South Of France
Clay Allison - Movie Star
Now, here is the problem - with the exception of Adam they are all horrible people in one way or another. Hardly a redeeming feature between the lot of them. This is a huge problem because the story really relies on you getting behind Toots and hoping that it is all going to work out for her and she will make the right decisions when it counts. Instead I found myself hoping that she would fall under the nearest passing Routemaster.
The character of Roddy particularly annoys, he is such a stereotype that it is actually laughable. Yes, I am aware that a stereotype is there for a reason but nobody actually inhabits one 100% but he does. To some extent Rachel does too - she is so completely subsumed by the need to be seen as fashionable, on trend and to feel loved that she ticks every shallow, narcissistic box that there is. Similarly you never get the feeling that Clay is anything other than a two-dimensional poster of himself hung on Toots' wall that she has imagined in to being.
Now, I understand that the media world of this time period wasn't particularly salubrious and all sorts of dodgy dealings went on. What I don't understand is why everyone has to be so venal and dislikeable. I have read many a book with this sort of character in them and yet there has always been something that endears you to them, a sheen of literary charisma if you like but that is completely missing here. Maybe I just didn't get the memo about this book, but I really struggled to find much to enjoy about it.
I did flirt with a One Star review but there were some bits that I enjoyed in the book, just not very many of them.
THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE BOOK FROM THE PIGEONHOLE.
The Woman On The Orient Express by Lindsay Jayne Ashford
I have an uneasy relationship with books of this nature - you take a real person and a real event or two and then smoosh them up with fabricated emotions and events. All too often they feel, at the bare minimum, strangely voyeuristic. Somehow the author has managed to weave the reality and the fantasy together in a completely compelling way that keeps you turning the pages eagerly.
The main thrust of the novel takes place after the well-publicised "Harrogate Incident" and follows Agatha Christie on a solo trip abroad on the magnificent Orient Express. A rail journey that she is both looking forward too immensely and dreading in no small measure. What starts off as an exploration of Ms Christie's state of mind after her divorce soon explodes in to a tale of female friendship and the rebuilding of three women's lives. There is also a little mystery thrown in for good measure - how could there not be with the Orient Express and Agatha Christie involved.
The descriptions of the scenery are lush and inviting. I am not one for travelling but the landscapes and the smells are so evocative within the pages that I did find myself somewhat tempted to experience them for myself. In particular the scenes at Ur really helped you feel the oppressive heat, the grit of the sand getting in to every nook and cranny and the thrill of new discoveries - in more ways than one for Agatha.
It is not all about Agatha Christie and the landscapes, or even the train. It is about her travelling companions Nancy and Katherine too. Their stories are just as compelling and Agatha's and, in many ways, much more tragic. Although not everyone featured was a real person who definitely knew Agatha Christie or was certainly in the same social circle so could be postulated to have known her there is such a taut blend between fact and fiction that even the genuinely fictional characters and events feel real. This particularly applies to Nancy and her rather shocking, for the times, predicament.
I also enjoyed the tiny section at the end where the author takes the time to recommend further reading for the "true" story of what happened during those years and also to lay out what liberties she had taken with both the timeline of certain meetings and events in Agatha Christie's life. I have never read any Agatha Christie novels or really knew much more about her than her disappearing off to Harrogate - having read this book it has made me somewhat intrigued to learn more about her and maybe read some of her books.
The main thrust of the novel takes place after the well-publicised "Harrogate Incident" and follows Agatha Christie on a solo trip abroad on the magnificent Orient Express. A rail journey that she is both looking forward too immensely and dreading in no small measure. What starts off as an exploration of Ms Christie's state of mind after her divorce soon explodes in to a tale of female friendship and the rebuilding of three women's lives. There is also a little mystery thrown in for good measure - how could there not be with the Orient Express and Agatha Christie involved.
The descriptions of the scenery are lush and inviting. I am not one for travelling but the landscapes and the smells are so evocative within the pages that I did find myself somewhat tempted to experience them for myself. In particular the scenes at Ur really helped you feel the oppressive heat, the grit of the sand getting in to every nook and cranny and the thrill of new discoveries - in more ways than one for Agatha.
It is not all about Agatha Christie and the landscapes, or even the train. It is about her travelling companions Nancy and Katherine too. Their stories are just as compelling and Agatha's and, in many ways, much more tragic. Although not everyone featured was a real person who definitely knew Agatha Christie or was certainly in the same social circle so could be postulated to have known her there is such a taut blend between fact and fiction that even the genuinely fictional characters and events feel real. This particularly applies to Nancy and her rather shocking, for the times, predicament.
I also enjoyed the tiny section at the end where the author takes the time to recommend further reading for the "true" story of what happened during those years and also to lay out what liberties she had taken with both the timeline of certain meetings and events in Agatha Christie's life. I have never read any Agatha Christie novels or really knew much more about her than her disappearing off to Harrogate - having read this book it has made me somewhat intrigued to learn more about her and maybe read some of her books.
Munmun by Jesse Andrews
This is a peculiar tale, the blurb describes it as warm and funny but that isn't what I took from it. Don't get me wrong I did enjoy it but for me it was rather dystopian and downright chilling in places - maybe I was overthinking things and putting a far more literary bent on it than was intended by the author. For me this was more than just the face-of-it tale but it was about the barely hidden parallels to modern society and constantly whilst reading those would jump out at me so I was unable to seperate them from the tale.
Munmun takes place in a world similar to ours but with some striking differences. On the whole your size denotes your net worth, your wealth and the whole process of how that is figured out is quite daunting and it is explained to us in a manageable way. Our main protagonist is Warner, littlepoor, rat sized Warner with a dead father and a crippled mother and an annoying sister, Prayer. The tale centres around their adventures as Prayer moves to Sand Dreamough (accompanied by Warner and his best friend stuttering, limping Usher) to besiege the Middlerich bastion of learning and snare a husband that can scale her up. Not the best plan but it is all they have.
What follows is a treatise on how life seems to be, how your place in the world determines the treatment you receive from others and how "bettering yourself" is not as easy as those who already have much, much more than you would have you believe. The story takes place between the rather depressing Lifeanddeathworld and the psychedelic Dreamworld - on the whole, I think I would take Dreamworld if I was Warner.
It is definitely an unsettling read and one that I feel sure will creep on to school syllabuses as there is a lot to discuss here and lots of symbolism. Heck, you can even argue about the place names and who the Bigrich are supposed to represent - although that will depend on the times the book is read in and who people perceive to be the uber-wealthy. Normally this is the sort of book that I struggle to complete, finding that all the things I perceive behind the words on the page cause the story to be lost. Somehow this didn't happen here and I found that I was existing in my own parallels of Lifeanddeathworld and Dreamworld where part of me was enjoying Warner's life story and another part was analysing for all it was worth.
On the whole an enjoyable story that does make you think - even when you don't want to!
Munmun takes place in a world similar to ours but with some striking differences. On the whole your size denotes your net worth, your wealth and the whole process of how that is figured out is quite daunting and it is explained to us in a manageable way. Our main protagonist is Warner, littlepoor, rat sized Warner with a dead father and a crippled mother and an annoying sister, Prayer. The tale centres around their adventures as Prayer moves to Sand Dreamough (accompanied by Warner and his best friend stuttering, limping Usher) to besiege the Middlerich bastion of learning and snare a husband that can scale her up. Not the best plan but it is all they have.
What follows is a treatise on how life seems to be, how your place in the world determines the treatment you receive from others and how "bettering yourself" is not as easy as those who already have much, much more than you would have you believe. The story takes place between the rather depressing Lifeanddeathworld and the psychedelic Dreamworld - on the whole, I think I would take Dreamworld if I was Warner.
It is definitely an unsettling read and one that I feel sure will creep on to school syllabuses as there is a lot to discuss here and lots of symbolism. Heck, you can even argue about the place names and who the Bigrich are supposed to represent - although that will depend on the times the book is read in and who people perceive to be the uber-wealthy. Normally this is the sort of book that I struggle to complete, finding that all the things I perceive behind the words on the page cause the story to be lost. Somehow this didn't happen here and I found that I was existing in my own parallels of Lifeanddeathworld and Dreamworld where part of me was enjoying Warner's life story and another part was analysing for all it was worth.
On the whole an enjoyable story that does make you think - even when you don't want to!
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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...
