‘The Widow had been sat on my TBR pile for some time, I now remember hearing others talk about it and how good it was but when I started reading it I couldn’t remember what I’d heard about it. I wish that I’d read it sooner.
The Widow tells the story of Bella, a little two year old girl who goes missing from her front garden. The story is revealed by different characters in the book, and moves back and forth in time. Often this doesn’t work, it can be confusing and stop the book from flowing. No problem at all with that with The Widow, I had no trouble keeping track of the story.
I enjoyed reading the point of view of all the characters who helped to tell the story, and try to work out just what had happened to little Bella and who had been involved. I thought that it was a really good read, I enjoyed reading it and wanted to know what would happen.
A definite 4* read from me.
Thank you to the publishers of The Widow for a copy of the book via Netgalley in return for an honest review.’
If you want an easy but enjoyable read that will keep you guessing then The Widow is for you. It is available from Amazon UK now.
So I’ve been a bit quiet recently. Two reasons for that, firstly I have been away enjoying a rare holiday. Sadly there was very little reading time during said holiday. Secondly I’ve been reading a book that took me a loooong time to read which I will review soon.
I had never heard of the author Ingrid Black until a few weeks ago when word spread in the book world about a disturbing tale of plagiarism. Ingrid Black, it turned out, was the pseudonym for two authors who together had written three books. The books had been published some time ago and were now out of print but a particularly observant reader noticed that a newly released book bore a striking resemblance to the first novel by Ingrid Black.
A simple tweet lead to the story unfolding, and a sad story of how one woman stole Ingrid Black’s books and made them her own, making thousands selling them on Amazon. The supposed author had been active on social media and was a member of an online book club that I belong to. I know many who read and reviewed her books, who supported her and helped to boost her sales.
Ingrid Black wrote an article about how the deceit was discovered, it was an article that shocked many. This short book is a longer version of that article, and makes for interesting reading. I admire Ingrid Black immensely for how they have handled this situation, but it does make me question Amazon and how easy it seemed to be for someone to steal the work of another. I truly hope that this situation is a one off, but sadly I doubt that is the case.
If you are into books then this is well worth reading. It is short so won’t take long, but I am sure that it will make you think.
The Real Book Thief by Ingrid Black is available from Amazon UK now.
I think that Angela Marsons is now firmly my favourite author. I’ve loved all her books and this one is one of her best. Read them!!!
‘Angela Marsons has exploded onto the psychological thriller scene in the last year. I read her first book in the Kim Stone series, Silent Scream, and loved it. This is the fourth book in the series and they only get better. I have now given all four books five stars which is pretty impressive as I’m quite careful about giving them.
DI Kim Stone is not the most likeable character, but she is an excellent police detective and goes to all lengths to solve a crime. Her trusty team back her up with total faith, and Bryant knows his boss so well that he manages (some of the time) to reign her in. Stone is not the most tactful of people!
I have always felt that the characters were well formed but they have grown and developed as the books have gone on. Marsons writing in Play Dead feels so natural, she knows her characters so well which really adds to the reading experience. It feels like the book just flows, there’s no unnecessary drama, it feels real and there’s no wasted words.
While each book can be read as a standalone book I’d really recommend reading them all, they are a joy to read and I’ve no doubt that you will enjoy the book even more if you’ve read them all.
If you haven’t read any of Angela Marsons DI Kim Stone books then you’re in for a real treat. She is proving herself to be a brilliant writer and I cannot wait for book number five. Play Dead is a book that grabs you and pulls you in, just remember to breathe when you’re reading!
I was given a copy of Play Dead to read by the publishers, Bookouture, via Netgalley in return for an honest review.’
Play Dead will be available from 20th May 2016 and can be preordered from Amazon UK and Amazon USA
It was a close call but I have given When She Was Bad 5*’s. And I will definitely be reading more by Tammy Cohen in the future.
‘This is my second Tammy Cohen book having read First One Missing last year which I thought was brilliantly written. I think that I have a new favourite author.
When She Was Bad has short chapters that are each told from a different point of view. At first I was a bit confused due to the number of different characters but it didn’t take long to get into the swing of it. One of the main characters is Anne, based in America Anne talks about working with a little girl who had been rescued from what the media have dubbed ‘the house of horrors’ many years ago. All the other characters are in the present and based in England. Little seemed to tie them together, but as the story unfolded the connection became clear.
Many times when reading When She Was Bad I thought that I’d worked it all out, at one point I was so sure I felt quite smug about it. Serves me right because Tammy Cohen had me guessing right until the end. Talking of the end I did feel that it was a little rushed which was a shame, I felt that a lot was smoothed over and not explained, but that didn’t stop it being a very clever piece of writing that I’m sure will keep most readers guessing right until the end.
It would also appear that Tammy Cohen has a bit of a ‘thing’ about sweat (you’ll know what I mean when you read it!), but also describes anxiety and insecurities that many people suffer from.
Thank you to the publishers for an ARC of When She Was Bad via Netgalley.’
When She Was Bad will be released on April 21st 2016 and is available for pre-order from Amazon UK here.
‘I first heard about When Breath Becomes Air when I was browsing in Waterstones. I read the blurb and thought that I needed to read this book, I rarely read true stories but this book almost seemed to be calling to me. I went home and looked online, the book had just been released and had some great reviews already. I really wanted to read this book.
The book is split into two main chapters, two very long chapters. The first focused on Paul’s life before diagnosis, his education and reasons for going into medicine and neurology. According to my Kindle the first chapter took just over an hour to read, and there were very few pauses or breaks in the chapter. I’m a fan of short chapters so this was very strange for me, and I’m someone who hates stopping reading anywhere other than at the end of a chapter, but this wasn’t possible with this book. The second chapter is slightly shorter and focuses on what happened after diagnosis.
What could be a very sad and depressing read is actually quite an inspiring and thought provoking book. Paul describes his thought processes well and spends quite some time in Chapter 1 talking about his beliefs and what drove him to become an exceedingly good neurologist. Chapter 2 talks about life after diagnosis, about what Paul had hoped to achieve in his life, and reflection on what he had and had not managed to do. He fought a brave battle and I think that many of us would hope that we would be able to face death with such aplomb.
The book ends with a short chapter by Paul’s wife, finishing the book that Paul was unable to. Her strength also inspires.
I’m left with a lot to think about, this book came at an interesting time for myself and this no doubt added a great deal to my experience of reading When Breath Becomes Air. I also can’t help but think about why these things happen, why a neurologist gets cancer in his brain of all places. I know of other similar instances, like an ophthalmologist with a benign brain tumour that will cause gradual blindness as it grows. This book has definitely left me with a lot to think about and ponder.
Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the chance to read and review When Breath Becomes Air.’
‘No Name Lane is the first book that I’ve read by Howard Linskey. I came across it on TBC on Facebook when the author was looking for people to read and review two of his books. I liked the sound of it so thought I’d give it a go.
I hadn’t realised how long the book was, at 496 pages it is not a quick read. I have to admit that at times I wanted to give up, it felt like progress was slow and I have so many other books that I want to read. But I was intrigued and wanted to know what would happen.
No Name Lane is definitely a slow burner of a book, although it grabbed me from the start the pace slowed right down. The benefit of this is that it allowed for great character development, and I particularly liked Tom who is the main character. It was also refreshing to read a book where the police detective wasn’t the lead character, instead Tom who is a local reporter is the one who the book focuses on.
There are twists and turns but as I said they are slowly revealed. I did enjoy No Name Lane and thought the writing and character development were excellent, but it was too long. Had it been shorter I probably would have given it 5*’s instead of 4.
I received a copy of No Name Lane in return for an honest review.’
While writing this review I thought about the length and looked at some other books that I’ve read and enjoyed, most were at least 100 pages shorter but one book, Little Black Lies by Sharon Bolton is exactly the same length. Yet I never thought that book was too long. I’m not sure what that says about No Name Lane, but I think because the writing style is slow and steady it made it feel longer. Who knows.
‘Between You and Me is currently a ‘buzz’ book, lots of people talking about it and ‘that’ twist and how brilliant it is.
It’s disappointing when you start a new buzz book and find that it just doesn’t buzz for you. While I quite enjoyed reading it and wanted to know what would happen I never felt really invested in the book, or the characters. When you know there will be a twist in a book it’s easy to spend most of the time trying to work it out, but I didn’t feel that bothered in this case, which is probably a good thing as trying to spot the twist can be really distracting.
The theme of the book is domestic violence, something that I have a personal interest in. There are scenes of physical and verbal abuse. Having very recently read and loved Behind Closed Doors by BA Paris, it was difficult not to compare the two. Unfortunately Between You and Me comes off worse in my opinion. It felt less credible and the reasons given for Sal staying in the relationship were just not convincing enough, it just didn’t ring true.
Having said that I found it easy to read and I wanted to know what happened, and I would happily read another book by Lisa Hall.
There seems to be a lot of reviews around for this book that give the twist away, so please be careful what you read!!
I was given a copy of Between You and Me by the publishers via Netgalley in return for an honest review.’
I really wish I knew why there are buzz books that I love and others that I hate. I know we all have different tastes but there are many reviewers who I pretty much always agree with, but there are still buzz books that don’t buzz for me that do for many others. I guess life would be pretty boring though if we all agreed!
I really wanted to like this book, it sounded interesting and I really like the cover. But in the end it’s too long and just didn’t really keep my interest. I’d be interested to hear what you felt if you’ve read it.
‘Beside Myself tells the story of identical twins Helen and Ellie. Helen is bright and happy, Ellie is seen as the ‘problem’ child. One day for a game they decide to swap clothes and see if they can trick people into believing that they’re the other twin. It’s a fun game…for a while, but when Helen wants to swap back Ellie refuses. No one will believe Helen as Ellie always told stories, they just think that she is making it up. Even their own mother (who quite frankly is one of the most unpleasant characters I’ve ever read about) just tells her to be quiet. And so Helen becomes Ellie and Ellie becomes Helen.
The story is told from the point of view of Ellie (who was Helen). each chapter swaps between present and past to tell the story of how Ellie ended up alone and bitter.
Mental health problems run through the book, which can only be a good thing as it raises awareness and understanding. The author manages to write about Ellie’s descent into madness well, showing the crazy thinking and behaviour that results. It is at times hard to read, but I think it is accurate.
So why am I only giving Beside Myself three stars? I did not like the flipping between past and present with each chapter. It seems to be a very trendy thing to do at the moment, and sometimes it works well but and sometimes it doesn’t. While the concept of the book was interesting, I felt that the book would have been much, much better at half the length. It just went on too long and too much happened that wasn’t quite believable. And some of the characters were just not realistic while others appeared briefly just to help fit the storyline at some point further on in the book.
If Beside Myself had been half the length I think that it would be a really good book. I’m giving it an extra star because I think that the mental health aspect of the book is well done, realistic and helpful to increase awareness of the manic highs and crashing lows experienced by people with bipolar. But with a few changes I think that Beside Myself could of been a much better book.
I was given a copy of Beside Myself by the publishers via Netgalley in return for an honest review.’
I read Little Black Lies in September 2015 but still remember it really well which has to be a sign of a good book. This was definitely in the top end of my top ten reads for 2015 too and has been reduced on Amazon UK.
‘I don’t often give five star reviews, they are a rating for a book that totally blew me away. This book didn’t blow me away, yet I have no hesitation in giving it five stars.
Little Black Lies is incredibly well written, the story flows well and the characters are well developed and interesting. Catrin, the main character, is not particularly likeable, yet one can’t help but empathise with her. The story is told from the point of view of three people, Catrin, Callum and Rachel, each one giving something different and helping to tell the story. I am not hugely keen on books told from different perspectives, but this book doesn’t jump between the three viewpoints, the book is roughly divided into three and they each get their own section, making the book flow much better.
I loved the setting of the Falkland Islands, it’s a place that I have never given much thought to but after reading this book it’s somewhere I’d love to visit. It’s such a perfect setting for this story.
So while the book didn’t blow me away (and I guessed the ‘who dunnit’ quite early on, not that that mattered at all), I really enjoyed reading it and it was so well written that it has to be given five stars. I will definitely be reading more from Sharon Bolton.
I was given a copy of Little Black Lies by the publisher via Netgalley in return for an honest review.’
A 4* laugh out loud read. Not hugely funny but lots of chuckles. Enjoy!
‘Bricking It is not the sort of book that I normally read. I’m not sure that I can remember the last time I read a book that was classified as humour. I am now converted. I am normally a crime/thriller kinda girl and it was actually so nice to read a book where I wasn’t wondering who would die next, or who would turn out to be a murderer, and where I laughed out loud. I also quite liked a nice, happy ending with no shocks or dramas.
Bricking it follows two siblings who inherit a very run down farmhouse, they decide to do it up and sell it on, hoping to make a huge profit. The whole book focuses on the process they go through. Doesn’t sound very interesting really does it? But it kept me interested and chuckling along, it was a fun and easy read.
I’ll probably go back to reading a crime book next, but I think that a break from that genre is very healthy and I’ll definitely be looking at other books by Nick Spalding to provide some light relief.
I was given a copy of Bricking It by the publishers via Netgalley in return for an honest review.’
If only I could read faster 