Book Review: Love on a Lease by Falon Ballard.

My book loving friend Irena asked me to buddy read this book with her. As always, our buddy reads are enjoyable and we have great chats about the book, the plot, the characters and plenty of non book related chats too. I am very glad we buddy read this book together as the book itself was sadly a disappointment.

Description:

Beach Read meets The Flatshare in this warmly funny and delightfully sharp debut rom-com about a down-on-her-luck young woman who turns an innocent mix-up between a dating app and a roommate app into a new chance at love.

After getting passed over for an overdue—and much needed—promotion, Sadie Green is in desperate need of three things: a stiff drink, a new place to live, and a one-night-stand. When one drink turns into one too many, Sadie mixes up a long-ignored dating app for a roommate-finding app and finds herself on the doorstep of Jack Thomas’s gorgeous Brooklyn brownstone. Too bad she’s more attracted to his impressive real estate than she is to the man himself.

Jack, still grieving the unexpected death of his parents, has learned to find comfort in video games and movie marathons instead of friends. So while he doesn’t know just what to make of the vivaciously verbose Sadie, he’s willing to offer her his spare bedroom while she gets back on her feet. And with the rent unbeatably low, Sadie can finally pursue her floristry side hustle full-time. The two are polar opposites, but as Sadie’s presence begins to turn the brownstone into a home, they both start to realize they may have just made the deal of a lifetime.

Published February 1st 2022 by GP Putnam

My Thoughts:

I buddy read this book with Irena, and I’m so glad that I did because that was by far the best part of this reading experience.
I went into this book, not expecting it to be completely realistic as it is a rom com, chick lit book. I think this served me well, as the plot and characters of this book were more fairy tale like than rom com.

The female lead character accidentally mixes up her dating app with her apartment share app and ends up meeting Jack who she agrees to be his new room mate. So as the two share Jack’s house, we see their relationship progress and I would have expected to see their characters develop.
Nope, Jack is the fairy tale guy that I think is intended to come across to the reader as ‘perfect’. In actual fact, I found his personality to be dull, and far to concerned with doing everything for Sadie.

Sadie (in my opinion) is selfish, inconsiderate and unlikable. Sadie is described, as having suffered emotional abuse from her father as a child and is therefore described to be under confident and hard on herself all the time. However the way she came across in the book to me was not this way at all. She constantly spoke of herself being “so hot” and she took big life risks. I found the description and the way the character spoke to be completely contradictory, so much so that while reading it Irena and I both commented that this could be triggering or dismissive of people who have been emotionally abused.

On the plus side to this book, the cover is lovely. The writing and chapters are very easy to read and they flow well. The book was a good length, didn’t seem to short or to long. Sadie has great friends and their characters seem a bit more developed and real to me. One is a teacher who doesn’t much like her job and so when she is not at work, she swears constantly. (Because she cannot do it at work). It came across to me as frustration at her lack of contentedness.

This wasn’t a memorable read for me, but saying that there have been some good reviews. If you like easy to read chick lit books with a ‘Prince Charming‘ that will completely dedicate everything he has to the girl, then you may enjoy it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a book that I will remember for any good reason.

Links:

• Goodreads
• Amazon

 

Book Review: I Have Something To Tell You, by Susan Lewis

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher Harper Collins for my copy of this book. I asked my book loving friends Irena and Ani if they wanted to buddy read this with me, which made the reading experience a lot more enjoyable.

Description

High-flying lawyer Jessica Wells has it all. A successful career, loving husband Tom and a family she adores. But one case – and one client – will put all that at risk.

Edward Blake. An ordinary life turned upside down – or a man who quietly watched television while his wife was murdered upstairs? With more questions than answers and a case too knotted to unravel, Jessica suspects he’s protecting someone…

Then she comes home one day and her husband utters the words no one ever wants to hear. Sit down… because I’ve got something to tell you…

Now Jessica must fight not only for the man she defends, but for the man she thought she trusted with her life – her husband.

Published September 16th 2021

My Thoughts:

I have read quite a few of Susan Lewis’ books, so I had high hopes for this one. This Author has never disappointed me before. Unfortunately there is a first time for everything and this one did not meet the expectations I had from her previous books.

I Have Something To Tell You gives the impression in the blurb of being a legal thriller, a lawyer defending a man who is accused of killing his wife. Then the lawyer’s husband has something to tell her. I rightly or wrongly went into this book with some kind of pre expectations of what the plot would be. I was wrong!

While the legal case of the man who is accused of killing his wife gripped me for the first half of the book, from the second half onwards I felt it was being dragged out longer than necessary and I became a little frustrated that it wasn’t moving along faster.

The plot about Jay ( the lawyer) and what her husband has to tell her is a good storyline and does add the personal part to Jay’s story. But again I thought this was far to drawn out and her husband was given too many chances ( in my opinion).

I read in the acknowledgements that this is based on a real life story, although made to be fictional so I can’t say that the plot was unrealistic, however I would not appreciate a lawyer like Jay. I felt Jay was quite unprofessional in many ways. I certainly would not want to her to represent me.

I became totally dismayed with the book at about three quarters of the way through when a plot twist is revealed. If it had stayed this way, my rating would have been 2 stars. It was only raised that extra star because of a later twist that redeemed it slightly.

I hope that future books by Susan Lewis will go back to the standard of her earlier works.

Links:

• Amazon

 

End of Year Reviews. #BookBlogger. #BookClubReads

I have read a lot of books this year, and I didn’t get a chance to review all of them. So here is a round up of some of the books I read and my brief thoughts on them. They will probably come in multiple posts as there are a lot of unreviewed books this year!

Some I read by myself and some I read as part of my book club. Thanks to Irena for introducing me to lots of new books and genres. Irena’s links below.

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Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Published June 30th 2020 by Del Rey

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This book was a bookclub read and not really my top choice, but I was ready to try new genres. I would describe this as historical, horror fiction.

Our main character Noemi gets a letter from her cousin asking for her help. So Noemi goes to see her cousin and stays in a very old gothic building in attempt to help her cousin who seems to be quite sick and scared. The descriptions within these pages are my favourite part as you can really imagine the dampness, the creepiness and the eerie atmosphere that Noemi’s cousin lives in.

I have to say, I was hoping for more Mexican influence, but the family were English so despite being based in Mexico there wasn’t much Mexican influence in it.

I knew I was going in for a horror read, we read this as part of our October Halloween bookclub read. But the supernatural element just didn’t work for me. I was hoping there would be believable (to me) reasons for what was happening, but I just didn’t believe it.

As you can see for yourself, the cover of this book is gorgeous and that was one of the things that attracted me to the book. Sadly, this book wasn’t for me.

Cackle By Rachel Harrison.

Published October 5th 2021 by Berkley Books

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This was our second Halloween read, and I liked this one so much better than Mexican Gothic. It was marketed as a horror / thriller by some reviewers. I want to be very clear on my and my co reader’s thoughts here. This is definitely not a thriller or a horror. We decided that at best it can be describe as a cosy women’s fiction with paranormal / witchy elements. It was the Halloween book that I wanted.

Annie leaves Manhattan to try to start again after her boyfriend dumped her. She is feeling low in confidence and hopes her new job, house and location will bring her more happiness. Apart from a spider infestation, her house and area seems lovely. Then Annie meets Sophie, who is super confident, super hot and super nice to Annie. One odd thing though, the other locals seem a bit scared of Sophie!

This was such a cosy, easy read. We see the character development of Annie and Sophie throughout the book. Particularly with Annie there are many pro feminism aspects as her character grows.

I love the cover of this book, despite there being a spider on it. The Author may think this book will lessen readers fear of spiders! For me it did not. I would be totally freaked out in Annie and Sophie’s houses. But whats a Halloween book without a friendly spider or 5!

I really liked this book as just an easy read with a hint of paranormal, that even me as a total non believer could enjoy. Highly recommended.

Well, thats it for today. More mini reviews to come soon as I look over all the books I’ve read this year. As I look at what I’ve read, I will consider my favourites of the year? Let me know your favourite book(s) of 2021 and perhaps I will add them to my tbr list for 2022. Happy Reading Folks.

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Pexels.com

 

Book Review: The Girl Upstairs by Georgina Lees. #Thriller #Netgalley

Thank you to Netgalley, the Author Georgina Lees and publisher One More Chapter for my advanced copy of this book. I was in the mood for a good thriller when I read this one and it was just what I wanted after reading a few other genres with my bookclub.

Photo by Ioana Motoc on Pexels.com

Description:

How well do you know your neighbour?
Would you trust them with your life?

I heard Emily before I saw her. The harsh smack of heels against cheap wooden floorboards. The loud phone calls. The incessant music.

I knew Emily before I met her. Discarded receipts in our communal hallway. Sticky leftovers in the shared food waste bin. Wine shop vouchers in the letterbox.

Now she’s gone missing, and I’m the only one who can find her. The only one who can save her.

Because I know her best, and I heard everything.

The Girl Upstairs is a spine-tingling psychological thriller of grief and obsession that explores how lonely London can be and how sometimes it’s our neighbours who see us most, who know us best…

A must-read for fans of Lisa Jewell and Sarah Pinborough.

ebook, 384 pages
Published December 9th 2021 by One More Chapter

My Thoughts:

I think the moral going into this book, is that not everything is as it seems. I guess that is true with many thrillers and often in life. I wouldn’t describe this book as a page turning suspenseful thriller, but it is a thriller. We hear mainly from Susie’s point of view, that she hears everything her upstairs neighbour does. Susie is a bit down in the dumps and can’t help but get annoyed with every little and loud noise that the girl upstairs makes. Susie knows when the girl upstairs is in the shower, cooking, having guests. Its not creepy, there are just very thin walls and Susie is in her house and quiet a lot.

When the girl upstairs goes missing, Susie can’t help herself but to get involved. She feels like she must know something and be able to help find Emily. From all she has heard from Emily, Susie feels she knows her well enough to help, despite only having met her a few times.

Things and people are not as they seem. I started off feeling that Susie was being a bit harsh, but as the book continued I started to feel for her. I think the moto of ‘being kind to everyone because you never know what someone is going through‘ is quite apt for this book. I found it got more interesting when we heard Emily’s point of view aswell. Both women have plenty going on with them that we don’t see on the surface.

It is a slow burner and very character led. I wouldn’t describe it as a twisty thriller, but it did keep me gripped and I wanted to know what happened to Emily, and what Susie would do next. The end was good and I closed my kindle with satisfaction. I hadn’t heard of Georgina Lees before, but I will be looking out for more of her books.

Links:

• Amazon
• Goodreads

 

Christmas Book Review: Christmas Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella. #FestiveRead

If I can recommend one festive book to read this year, it would be this one. It was a real pleasure to be back in Becky’s life again so she could bring me some laughs at this seasonal time. I buddy read this with Irena and we had a great time reading and discussing it.

Description:

Celebrate Christmas with the ultimate Shopaholic!
The brilliant laugh-out-loud festive novel from the Number One bestselling author.
Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) adores Christmas. It’s always the same – Mum and Dad hosting, carols playing, Mum pretending she made the Christmas pudding, and the next-door neighbours coming round for sherry in their terrible festive jumpers.
And now it’s even easier with online bargain-shopping sites – if you spend enough you even get free delivery. Sorted!
But this year looks set to be different. Unable to resist the draw of craft beer and smashed avocado, Becky’s parents are moving to ultra-trendy Shoreditch and have asked Becky if she’ll host Christmas this year. What could possibly go wrong?

With sister Jess demanding a vegan turkey, husband Luke determined that he just wants aftershave again, and little Minnie insisting on a very specific picnic hamper – surely Becky can manage all this, as well as the surprise appearance of an old boyfriend and his pushy new girlfriend, whose motives are far from clear . . .
Will chaos ensue, or will Becky manage to bring comfort and joy to Christmas? 

Paperback, 384 pages
Published October 15th 2019 by Bantam Press

My Thoughts:

It was so much fun to be back with Becky Brandon nee Bloomwood again. I was really hoping I would enjoy this book, as the last Shopaholic was quite disappointing. I am happy to say, that this one was a lot better. I buddy read this one with Irena and we had lots of interesting discussions as we read along.

It was a great idea to get Becky to host Christmas lunch for her family. Having to host, buy, prepare and feed her parents, sister, neighbours and best friend and their families is some job for anyone. But for Becky, who wants to make everybody happy and will do whatever she can to make it perfect for everybody, it is a very large job. Anybody who has read previous Shopaholics will know that this is the perfect opportunity for Becky’s shopping addiction and also for her to get into plenty of scrapes.

One thing I would say about this book, is that it would probably best to be read as part of the series and not to read this one before the others. There are a lot of past reference points to the many other books. This is not an negative point, because there have been lots of Shopaholic books and if you haven’t read any, you have a bookish feast ahead of you.

We meet all the usual characters again. Becky’s parents have taken on a new adventure so we get a few giggles from them. Suze and Becky’s friendship is as lovely as ever. And Jess, Becky’s sister is home for Christmas. Jess is a vegan and the most eco friendly person I have ever heard about. Being eco friendly is of course a good thing, but Jess takes it to another level, and the most annoying character in the book. Becky is extremely patient with her.

Becky is such a great character. She is funny, caring, generous and just makes the most entertaining character I know from a book series.

If you have read previous Shopaholics and not this one, then now is the time to read it. If you haven’t read any Shopaholics and you like light funny reads, then this is the series for you.

Links:

• Amazon
• Goodreads

 

Book review: Spooky Halloween Reads.

I read some great Halloween reads over the last month. The first I will tell you about is a horror book, which is entirely out of my usual comfort reading zone. But I was buddy reading it with Irena, which would make it enjoyable whatever I thought of the book. Luckily for me, I rated the book 4 out of 5 stars.

Description :

Seventeen-year-old Iris Hollow has always been strange. Something happened to her and her two older sisters when they were children, something they can’t quite remember but that left each of them with an identical half-moon scar at the base of their throats.

Iris has spent most of her teenage years trying to avoid the weirdness that sticks to her like tar. But when her eldest sister, Grey, goes missing under suspicious circumstances, Iris learns just how weird her life can get: horned men start shadowing her, a corpse falls out of her sister’s ceiling, and ugly, impossible memories start to twist their way to the forefront of her mind.

As Iris retraces Grey’s last known footsteps and follows the increasingly bizarre trail of breadcrumbs she left behind, it becomes apparent that the only way to save her sister is to decipher the mystery of what happened to them as children.

The closer Iris gets to the truth, the closer she comes to understanding that the answer is dark and dangerous – and that Grey has been keeping a terrible secret from her for years.

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland.

My Thoughts:

I think this is my first proper horror book that I have read in quite a few years. I used to enjoy Stephen King books when I was a lot younger. But since then, my genre preferences stayed between thriller and womens fiction. Branching out to a horror book at Halloween seemed the perfect time to give it a go. Even better, I got to buddy read it with Irena.

So, onto House of Hollow. This book starts with three sisters who are as close as sisters can be. They have arranged to meet up as only Iris now lives at home. Vivi and Grey are out living their own lives. Grey as a famous model, and Vivi in a band. The three sisters share a bond like no other as they disappeared as children for 1 month, and when they were found unharmed except for a scar on the throats, they remembered nothing.

The mysterious things start to happen pretty much straight away in this book. Grey doesn’t turn up for their meeting so Iris and Vivi start to look for her. This leads them on a journey neither of them were expecting, and gives them answers and many more questions about their lives along the way.

The writing in House of Hollow is so descriptively amazing and really painted a picture in my mind. It was good to discuss these parts with Irena, as some parts of it really made me cringe, but Irena had different views. When I first saw the cover, I thought it was lovely, as I read on and discovered these were flowers of death, it seemed more creepy than nice. It wasn’t the traditional horror story with blood and gore, or ghosts and ghouls. This horror had mythical dark fairytale vibes, the type that is super creepy to me. While I didn’t know much about faeries at the time (I knew only that fairies were good and faeries were not so good). Irena knew quite a lot about them, so I also learnt about faeries and myths while reading the book.

The concluding chapters to House of Hollow are gripping, fast paced, earie and answered all the questions that I had built up over the read. The ending was both sad, happy, weird and so imaginative. There was an epilogue which was not really necassary and may or may not have been written with a book 2 in mind?? I’m not sure. Personally, I think House of Hollow ended and should remain ended in this way. But saying that I really did love this Author’s writing style and creative imagination. I would read Krystal Sutherland’s books again. I didn’t think I would say that before I started this book, but again my buddy reads have pulled me out of my comfort zone and found something exciting. I highly recommend House of Hollow. Thanks to Irena for suggesting the book and buddy reading it with me.

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See this amazing trailer, if my review didn’t convince you to read, then this will.

 

Blog Tour, The Genesis Inquiry, by Olly Jarvis. @hobeckbooks.

Welcome to my spot on the blog tour for the amazing new book just published by the very talented Olly Jarvis. I am very happy to be sharing my spot with Louise https://bookmarksandstages.home.blog/. We will be telling you our thoughts on the brilliant new book The Genesis Inquiry. Thanks to publishers and blog tour organisers Hobeck Books for my copy of the book and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

I have been a big fan of Olly Jarvis since his first published book . In fact I have read and reviewed all his books, which you can read on my blog by searching Olly Jarvis.

But today I will tell you my thoughts in his new book The Genesis Inquiry. Please check out all the other bloggers on this tour and see their lovely posts too.

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Description.

Is there one last undiscovered, great truth?

A moment zero, a place in time that links all cultures and creeds.

A revelation that will unite us all and change the way we see history forever.

Brilliant but burnt-out barrister Ella Blake accepts an apparently simple brief: investigate the mysterious disappearance of an African American polymath from his rooms at Cambridge University. The Inquiry quickly becomes the greatest challenge of her life – solving the mystery of Genesis.

Facing danger at every turn, can Ella find the answers to the riddles and clues left by the missing genius?Reunited with her estranged daughter, the Inquiry sends them on a quest across the world and through ancient texts.

What is the secret that binds us all?Who is behind the dark forces that will stop at nothing to prevent the world from knowing the truth

Published October 12th 2021

My Thoughts.

The Genesis Inquiry is a little different from Olly Jarvis’ previous books. The Author still uses his own experience of legal knowledge but in an alternative and very interesting way than his previous books. The Genesis Inquiry is a book that entertained and taught me a lot of factual information. It is obvious that a lot of research has gone into this book.

The main character Ella Blake is a barrister who was well known in her area but has been on an extended break for a while. Ella is offered a job which seems a lot simpler in the beginning than how it actually turns out to be. Ella does know that it will bring her closer in distance to her daughter and that has to be a good thing. As the pages turn, we follow Ella, her daughter and a few other interesting characters as they search for a missing polymath from Cambridge and try to find out what was so important about his work before other not so savoury people find it. The book leads us across many locations as Ella cracks the clues she finds along the way.

Legal thrillers are my favourite kind of book. But this one is a little different as the legal work does not happen in court. Ella uses her legal knowledge to try to solve the mystery of a missing man and what he was working on at the time. The Genesis Inquiry made me consider many worldly issues and made me think about both history and the future of the planet and humanity. It’s a book that I got totally engrossed in as I wanted to really understand the theories that the missing polymath was studying and the clues that led Ella to find out what it was. I would say it’s a book that needed concentration and is not a light read. But it is highly entertaining, clever and extremely well written. I love Jarvis’ writing style and he is absolutely my go to author that I wouldn’t need to read the blurb on any of his books before I bought one. I know i will enjoy whatever he writes.

There is an eclectic bunch of characters in the story. My favourite was a young computer hacker called Jay. Young, a little down on his luck but full of optimism and compassion, he and Ella help each other along the way. Like Ella did, I also grew to have a soft spot for this young man.

The Genesis Inquiry is packed with intrigue, mystery, thrills, intensity and spectacular knowledge. I’m already wondering if Jarvis will write a sequel? I for sure would love to see Ella Blake again.

Follow this blog tour for the rest of this week. There are sure to be so many great things said about this book. Also check out Hobeck books for many more titles.

Links.

Blog Tour, The Genesis Inquiry, by Olly Jarvis. @hobeckbooks.

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Book Review: The Flat Share by Beth O Leary.

The Flat Share was a book club read with Irena and Monika . This was a different read from our usual genre, but we decided to go for something light hearted and an easy read.

Description:

Tiffy and Leon share a flat
Tiffy and Leon share a bed
Tiffy and Leon have never met…

Tiffy Moore needs a cheap flat, and fast. Leon Twomey works nights and needs cash. Their friends think they’re crazy, but it’s the perfect solution: Leon occupies the one-bed flat while Tiffy’s at work in the day, and she has the run of the place the rest of the time.

But with obsessive ex-boyfriends, demanding clients at work, wrongly imprisoned brothers and, of course, the fact that they still haven’t met yet, they’re about to discover that if you want the perfect home you need to throw the rulebook out the window…

My Thoughts:

The description of this book was what initially appealed to me about this book. The idea of a man and a woman sharing a one bedroom flat, where he sleeps there in the day and she sleeps there at night sounded like it would be fun, quirky and an easy read.

Leon and Tiffy share a flat but are never in it together. They have never even met. The idea is very strange for a living arrangement, but Leon needs more income and Tiffy can’t afford a place or room of her own in expensive London . So they agreed to a 6 months agreement.

The first half of this book was funny and weird and parts of it did make me chuckle. Tiffy is low on self esteem but she has a quirky dress sense and she is very chatty and tends to say what’s in her mind at the time . She is the opposite to Leon who is very quiet and tends not to say what’s in his mind. As with most romantic comedies you can tell where this will end up. There are a few extra parts of the story which are not obvious and gave our book chat plenty of things to discuss.

As the book turned to the second half of the plot, I found it not as humorous and easy going as it was to begin with. This disappointed me a bit because I wanted a funny easy read. There were more difficult topics that came up and I found that the light heartedness had almost gone from the book. It picked up again at the very end of the book, and although the book ended as I would have liked it to, I thought that there were quite a few unnecessary parts which made the book longer than it needed to be.

I did like the writing style which was alternated between Tiffy’ s point of view and Leon’s point of view. I could see a different style between the two and it was quite obviously a male / female difference. Leon and Tiffy communicate to each other through post it notes for the other to read during their time at the flat. The notes were amusing, despite the notes being left around for ages and making a mess.

Personally I wouldn’t read books from this author again as for me it didn’t prove to be the light easy read I expected. If you like romantic comedies with a mix between funny and serious topics then you will probably love The Flat Share. Sadly for me this was not a satisfactory read and this was primarily due to the change in tone over the chapters.

Links:

 Goodreads / Amazon.co.uk / 

 

Book Review: Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty.

I chose Nine Perfect Strangers in a book swap in my work place quite a long time ago. I was attracted to the front cover and the description. Since I got the book, I watched Big Litle Lies. ( written by the same author). I loved this series starring Reece Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman and it also allowed this book a bit closer to my ‘ to be read ‘. I am very excited to see the film of this book now , and hope it will live up to the excellence of the book. Here are my thoughts.

Description:

Could ten days at a health resort really change you forever?

These nine perfect strangers are about to find out…

Nine people gather at a remote health resort. Some are here to lose weight, some are here to get a reboot on life, some are here for reasons they can’t even admit to themselves. Amidst all of the luxury and pampering, the mindfulness and meditation, they know these ten days might involve some real work. But none of them could imagine just how challenging the next ten days are going to be.

Frances Welty, the formerly best-selling romantic novelist, arrives at Tranquillum House nursing a bad back, a broken heart, and an exquisitely painful paper cut. She’s immediately intrigued by her fellow guests. Most of them don’t look to be in need of a health resort at all. But the person that intrigues her most is the strange and charismatic owner/director of Tranquillum House. Could this person really have the answers Frances didn’t even know she was seeking? Should Frances put aside her doubts and immerse herself in everything Tranquillum House has to offer—or should she run while she still can?

It’s not long before every guest at Tranquillum House is asking exactly the same question.

Combining all of the hallmarks that have made Liane Moriarty’s writing a go-to for anyone looking for wickedly smart, page-turning fiction that will make you laugh and gasp, Nine Perfect Strangers once again shows why she is a master of her craft.

· First published 18 September 2018

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My Thoughts:

I read this book a while ago but never got around to reviewing. So here is my mini bullet point review of Nine Perfect Strangers.

* Nine very different characters end up at a retreat. They are in for a very different kind of ” retreat”.

* Some reviews I’ve read said this isn’t Liane’s best book but it’s the first I’ve read of hers and I really enjoyed It. So if I can take anything from those reviews it’s that I would probably enjoy the other books too.

* I was a little confused by the first chapter temporarily then as I read on it made more sense.

* All the characters are a little eccentric or at least have something about them. I liked all the characters but my favourite was the older lady who before arriving had a funny little meltdown in her car. I can totally imagine this and it made me warm to her before she even arrived at the retreat. I wanted her to feel better.

* The Author uses her imagination to create different chats between each character and how they would react under strained and unusual circumstances. There was a human element to the story and getting to know each character was what I liked.

* I like the plot but I liked the characters more.

* Definitely recommended as a fun summer read.

Links:

Goodreads

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

 

The Captive by Deborah O Connor. Book Review.

The Captive was a bookclub read again and this time my choice of book got voted for as the book of the month to read.

I always hope the book will be good but as it was my choice that everyone read, I particularly hoped it would be good.

Description:

Hannah knows the cage intimately. Small, the size of a shopping mall parking space. A bed, a basin, a table and chair. A hatch and metal drawer through which to exchange food and other items.

Then there’s him. Always there on the edges of her vision, no matter how hard she tries to block him out.

Every day, the same thoughts run through Hannah’s mind:

What if he speaks to me?

What if he hurts me?

What if he gets out?

First published 12 January 2021

My Thoughts:

This book intrigued me right from the start of reading the blurb. A prisoner being kept captive in your kitchen.

I didn’t know why he was being kept in a cage and why Hannah would be scared of him. If she was scared why was he there. Well the futuristic rules of criminals and prisoners is not something I like the sound of.

This was a really interesting and unique book. It was really well written and although the prisoner captivity idea is futuristic, the book explains why this came about and mentions the pros and cons which were interesting and thought provoking.

The chapters alternated between main characters Hannah and Jem’s points of view. There are also chapters which go back in time to Jem’s past. I could ‘feel ‘ both characters and although I wouldn’t have acted the same ways that Hannah did, I can understand her. The author did a great job of bringing these two to life in my head.

There were plenty of twists, thrills unexpected parts and characters to suspect. Everything I could want from a thriller. Highly recommended as a very unique thriller with parts domestic noir, legal guilty or not guilty, and tension that leads the reader to turn the pages faster and faster to see what will happen next. I loved it.

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Links:

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