I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
Jay lives with Uncle Bill, Step-Aunt ElaineI received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
Jay lives with Uncle Bill, Step-Aunt Elaine and cousin and 'sometimes best friend' Michaela and all she really loves in life is horses. Following success in the illegal horse tracks, Jay runs away from the home she never felt she belonged in and becomes a 'lad' in a racing stables. Soon Jay meets Manhattan, a grumpy no-hoper mare who just needs a little bit of love. Soon Jay and Manhattan are a team to be reckoned with as Jay tries to prove to everyone that Manhattan is worth saving.
I LOVED this. It was a perfect mix of National Velvet, Blind Beauty and Seabiscuit. Jay is the typical trope of the no-hope teenager trying to find her way but I really enjoyed her own struggles with becoming a respected member of the yard. This book had a strong emphasis on a female lad/jockey trying to make her way in the racing world and we really see examples of the kind of sexism and sexist comments Jay faced while in the yard and when trying to be a jockey. The fact that Manhattan's owner, Prince Muqrib, had so much trouble in Saudi Arabia over the fact he was letting a female jockey ride his horse was very interesting and I felt it to be really realistic as well. Mrs Wilkinson's efforts in the stables and the horse training (and how she was talked about by the male lads) was also a great point. I had always suspected she was something more and to see her being disrespected as a 'busybody woman' when she knew more than everyone was annoying, yet I can see it happening in everyday life.
This book had more about jockey training with Jay's brief stint in jockey school and I really loved experiencing that with her. Considering this book is very focused on Hay being a female in a typically male world, I think I could have done with Jay having some stronger connections towards the other female characters in the book - forging a better friendship with Laura, a little more interaction with Auntie other than the 2-3 scenes we did get and while her relationship with Michaela did improve, there could have been just a bit more. I felt like Jay had a definite distance with pretty much every character in the book, who wasn't a horse.
I LOVED the ending, I was pretty much cheering Jay and Manhattan on and then the very, every end with Hat's fat belly, I felt like squealing. I don't know if there will be any more books about Jay and her racing adventures but I would definitely read them or at least read more of Terence's horsey books. The effort that went into describing everything in detail and the history of the racing and horses was terrific. ...more
Lady Helen has a lot to worry about with her upcoming presentation before the Queen and setting up her presentation ball with her aunt and guardian. TLady Helen has a lot to worry about with her upcoming presentation before the Queen and setting up her presentation ball with her aunt and guardian. Then suddenly a dashing Earl with a dangerous past comes back to London and informs Helen that she is something called a Receiver - someone who can identify and kill demons, as well as take the darkness out of people's souls. Now Lady Helen has to start her training while also trying not to damage her reputation and field some marriage proposals while at it.
I loved this! Everything is pretty much perfect - the characters, the story, the history of the Receivers and Deceivers, the sexual tension (oh the tension!) and even the clothes. Alison Goodman did such a good job with the atmosphere and setting of Regency London and Lady Helen's day to day life and her troubles when it suddenly collides with the realisation of who she actually is was really realistic. She can't go of willy nilly to meet Carlston because a woman of her stature can't be with a man alone - let alone a man who people think killed his wife! I not only loved hearing about the Receivers and how the life energy worked and the inclusion of alchemy but I also loved Lady Helen having to go and get her new riding hat fitted and attending balls and dealing with her own presentation as well as what she would do if she married and had to be a Receiver.
Helen was a wonderful character with enough girlish charm and roguish spunk to keep her relatable and interesting. She was a good person who tried her best for everyone - including her lady's maid Darby. I loved her relationship with Darby, it was honest and genuine and reminded me of the relationship between Lady Mary and Anna Bates in Downton Abbey. Carlston was everything you wanted in a main character - dark, brooding, mysterious. I still don't have enough answers about him, especially to do with Elise but I'm really hoping for some hot and steaming scenes between him and Helen in the next book as they move on to her proper training.
There were times when I did get frustrated that Helen couldn't really do enough in this book but I do feel like this one set up the world of The Dark Day Club really well and I cant wait to learn more about it in the next book and hopefully have Helen involved in more action where she can actually use her strength and skills. Maybe even Darby can get a little bit of action with Quinn because that would be perfect. ...more
I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
Hope Jackson is dead. But she didn't leave I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
Hope Jackson is dead. But she didn't leave the people she left behind with nothing to not only help deal with their loss but also bring them together as well. Erik, Aiden, Kali and Sam - four completely different people with thing in common, Hope. They all knew her separately and loved her with all their hearts. When she dies, Hope sets them on a scavenger trail to help them deal with different problems in their loves and become friends while doing so. A story of loss, truth and friendship.
First off, anyway who loves Looking for Alaska should read this because this is similar to John Green's story but just done so.much.better!!! This story just captured my heart and didn't let it go and not only that but it's diverse and refreshing AF! Racial stereotypes, other sterotypes, autism, ocd, anorexia, self harm, disability from blindness, mobility and disfigurement and gender fluidity. All in one book! YASSS!
I won't lie Hope definitely suffers from a bit of pixie manic dream girl but we're really only getting the other's perfect memories of her as she was loved so much by them. She did seem pretty great though and it was easy to see how she could be herself but also something a little different with each of them - the teenage girl in love with Erik, the voice of reason with Aiden, the big sister with Kali and the fangirl with Sam.
"It was rare to see Hope not smiling. Even when her lips weren't, her eyes were."
Each character was different in their own way and all dealing with different things. Aiden was a particular joy to read. He had autism and OCD and to see him explain about the different things he did and felt and why we did them, or felt them was really great. We also see a highlight on racial stereotyping with people avoiding the 'black guy in the hoodie.'
"It's always seemed strange that my hoodie makes people feel uncomfortable, because I wear it so I don't have to feel at all. I hate random things touching my skin."
Aiden had such interesting ways to explain his tics such as his obsession with odd and even numbers, particularly the number five. I also loved how counting ended up being a big deal for him at the end of the book AND the number five. It was really cleverly done.
Kali was the one character I didn't really like. She's quite an unlikable character - despite her issues with her biological parents, she doesn't have that much to excuse her behaviour. She's living in a good home with parents who love her. She's beautiful but 'hates' her beauty yet she likes being skinny so is anorexic. I know there's more to anorexia than that and it's more of a control issue but i felt her reasoning contradicted slightly. She's also mean to the others a lot out of spite and she was just one of those characters that takes me a long time to warm up to.
Erik was just a sweetheart. Tall. good-looking and a 'jock' he's battling the stereotype that he's dumb yet he loves reading and is great at memorising quotes from literature. His own issues with telling his parents about his condition was heartbreaking and I totally teared up when he finally spilled the secret.
Sam was particularly great. They go by the 'they' pronoun rather than 'he' or 'she' and seeing the others struggle with this, particularly Erik, was funny and loved how Sam explained it - "I'm just Sam." Sam's dealing with not only being in a wheelchair but also disfigurement in their face and hands but their overall mind-frame is great. I didn't particularly like the format of Sam's chapters which were all computer speech as Sam is a tech genius but it did make it fast to read and I liked Sam's pint of view. Their contrasting issues with Kali was very intriguing - Sam is disfigured because of a tragedy and Kali is disfigured because she does it on purpose - and Sam's honest way of calling Kali out on her BS was fabulous.
"That's how you know if people really matter - when they're not there anymore, it's like part of you isn'y there, either." Sam holds up their scarred hand and laughs wryly. "And let me tell you, it hurts to lose part of yourself."
This story just hooked me in from the very start to the very end when I had tears in my eyes and oh, so many feelings in my chest. I HIGHLY recommend for anyone who a fan of John Green, Nicola Yoon or just some great YA contemporary!...more
St Piran is a sleepy hamlet in the corner of Cornwall with only 300 people and is the type of place where everyone knows everybody else. So there’s a St Piran is a sleepy hamlet in the corner of Cornwall with only 300 people and is the type of place where everyone knows everybody else. So there’s a lot of excitement when a naked man is found washed upon the beach and saved, and the next day a fin whale is beached causing the village to work together to save her. Joe, the man from the beach, instantly becomes part of the village but soon talks about a machine he built that predicts the future and that the end of the world is talking. Joe is determined to save the town but can he convince everyone to believe him.
This was a great read in my opinion. At first I thought I was reading a story about a Dibley-like village full of all types of characters with their own kind of charming and loved how they all immediately welcomed and helped Joe when he came along. Then I realised Joe was not some random crazy but a stock trade analyst/computer programmer who did actually build a reputable machine to help predict stock rise and fall by reading the news around the world every day. All his worrying suddenly made sense and I could totally go along with Joe’s mission to make sure the village survived what was coming for the world and I loved, loved, loved how when they realised he was using his life saving’s to buy enough food for all of them, they went along with it and helped rather than brushing him off as a lunatic.
On the front of this book, there are the word’s “This book may restore your faith in humanity” and this is 100% true. This story turned from a funny tale into a survival story but not one full of gun-wielding gangs and men who kidnap women (like you see in a lot of survival stories) but a small village who ganged together to make sure every single one of them was looked after, fed and safe and they even extended that to another town close by, proving that even if resources were scarce and people were dying, people could still be human and look after each other.
This reminded me a little bit of what if the events in Station Eleven by Emily St.John Mandel happened BUT people knew it was going to happen? This is what it would be - at least in some corners of the world.
At times the way the story was structured in terms of Joe’s memories could be a bit confusing. Sometimes he would remember his time on the “fifth floor” and the story would slip into a conversartion he had had with his old boss without a break in paragraph and then go right back to present day with no indication. It’s something that was a bit weird at first but then I got used to it.
I really enjoyed this story, I actually think I’m in love with the book cover and I’m 100% checking out more of John Ironmonger’s writing and characters as I just love what he creates....more
I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
Wavy doesn’t speak and she doesn’t eat. SheI received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
Wavy doesn’t speak and she doesn’t eat. She’s living with a drug dealer father and a drug addicted mother and protecting her brother from the things that scarred her growing up. Wavy is only eight years old. One day, an employee of her father’s crashes his bike near Wavy and from that moment on Kellen is hers. And she is his. As Wavy grows older and their relationship blossoms, people begin to ask questions and they could be torn apart.
This book was powerful, emotional, well-written and beautiful while at the same time being uncomfortable and wrong. By any means, the connection between Wavy and Kellen should make anyone feel weird, considering the age difference but weirdly, I rooted for them throughout this entire book.
Their relationship was profound and real and as a reader, I could really see how they found each other in each other, if that makes sense. They both needed each other desperately, Wavy needed someone, anyone to look after her and to simply understand her silence while Kellen needed someone who didn’t judge him and someone who would just be there.Their connection was pretty amazing, while at the same time made me deeply uncomfortable.
Wavy was always a very grown-up child. At 13, she felt more like an 18-year-old, which isn’t surprising considering how and where she grew up and the parents she had. The way she began to respond to Kellen differently and he to her was really great to read about while at the same time, I wanted her to sit down and wait a little longer before growing up. (Note: there are some graphic sexual scenes in this book).
I enjoyed Wavy’s character development from a small child to a teenager discovering her sexuality and finally into a confident and proud young woman. She was really someone who didn’t let anyone beat her down in the end and I really became her cheerleader. I loved her. She stood up for the people she loved, whether it was Kellen, Donal or her cousin Amy. I really loved the end chapter, where some unexplained things were explained. I’d love a completely separate novella or book on Donal alone, and his growing up at the time we were following Wavy in school and college.
A profound and beautiful story that will definitely stay with me for a little while!...more
The Museum of Extraordinary Things tells the dual tale of Coralie and Eddie. Coralie's father owns The Museum of Extraordinary Things, locate4.5 Stars
The Museum of Extraordinary Things tells the dual tale of Coralie and Eddie. Coralie's father owns The Museum of Extraordinary Things, located near the historical Dreamland amusement park on Coney Island, Brooklyn, in 1911. Coralie was born with webbed fingers and has to pose as 'human mermaid' in the museum. Eddie is running away from an Orthodox Jewish lifestyle and is a photographer. Coralie and Eddie's lives become intertwined the same year as the Shirtwaist Factory Fire and the Dreamland Fire.
It took me a while to get into this book but once I did it was beautiful. The story is told perfectly in between these two major historical fires in New York in the same year and I really love how the fires symbolised something big in the character's lives. There was a real sense of magic in the ordinary in this writing, and the imagery and words were just beautiful. I loved how Coralie and Eddie's story came together. I love how they were struck dumb with love by each other the moment they saw each other (at different times) and I think this story proves that the concept of insta-love is believable and enjoyable when it's done well.
There was a perfect sense of atmosphere in this book. The amusement park on and off seasons, the build up of Dreamland and the tensions it caused the Professor. I loved Eddie's descriptions of the community he grew up in and how he wandered back from time to time. It was a 1900's New York I haven't seen a lot of before in books and I loved it. I think people who know and have grown up in New York would love this book and there is a sense of history that's really interesting, even for someone like me who has never been.
I think this book would be perfect for fans of The Night Circus. It doesn't have the real magic like The Night Circus but there's something about it that has the same spark and feeling. This would also work well for readers who would like an adult version of Miss Peregine's Home for Peculiar Children (I actually wished to be able to see the photos Eddie took of the Professor's employees)....more
A novella about a tribal girl called Binti who walks away from her family to go to a special college that no-one in her tribe has ever gone to. On theA novella about a tribal girl called Binti who walks away from her family to go to a special college that no-one in her tribe has ever gone to. On the ship to the college, something terrible happens and binti finds herself being a peacemaker.
This was a really interesting novella packed with traditions, culture and interesting new technology. I really loved Binti's journey to her college and the events that happened. I did imagine the Meduse as giant squids for most of the novella which is probably very wrong, but oh well. I loved hearing about Binti's tribe and all their traditions such as the clay she spreads on her skin and the different way people in her tribe can shame themselves. I also liked the friendship that grew between Binti and the Meduse and how they grew to respect her. I feel like I got enough story but at the same time I'd gladly read more....more
I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
Lada was a disappointment to her father whenI received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
Lada was a disappointment to her father when she was born a boy but it doesn't take long for Lada to prove to everyone that she was a fierce princess of Wallachia. Set in the Ottoman Empire, Lada's story spans several years as she and her timid brother Radu grow up in the shadow of a cruel and weak father. Eventually they are left in the care of the sultan where they befriend Mehmed, the Sultan's third-oldest son. As they grow older and they both develop feelings for the same man Lada has to hold on to her independence in a world where women are typically treated as nothing and try and figure out how fiercely she will hold on to those she loves while at the same time trying to protect herself.
And then her lips, from which nothing but poison had ever dropped, found his and were baptized with sweet fire, reborn into something new and wild.
This was absolute brilliant from start to finish and I loved every bit of it. This is set in the Ottoman Empire and I believe it's loosely based off of Vlad the Impaler but a gender swap (?), however it could also be looked upon as a fantasy setting if you are like me and have never really read anything or knew anything about the Ottoman Empire and that period in history. Lada was an absolutely excellent character to read about and follow. She was fierce, independent, strong, stubborn, loyal. I loved her. There were times I wished for her to feel a bit more or show her feelings more but I also got why she often built up those walls around herself. The fact she so desperately hid her period, knowing it would mean being forced into a marriage, broke my heart as I really felt her fear and anxiety as well as that rage that noone would force her into anything. And her response to how she was treated made me cheer.
On our wedding night," she said, "I will cut out your tongue and swallow it. Then both tongues that spoke our marriage vows will belong to me, and I will be wed only to myself. You will most likely choke to death on your own blood, which will be unfortunate, but I will be both husband and wife and therefore not a widow to be pitied.
Radu was also a great character though i didn't love him as much as Lada. I really enjoyed the flux of their sibling relationship and how ti changed with time and circumstance from Radu needing Lada to protect him to times when Lada needed Radu to protect her from the sultan. Radu ended up growing up a lot stronger and independent than I thought he would though the childhood ache of wanting a friend seems to stay with him. I did grow irritated at him near the end and how he treated Lada after she and Mehmeh grow closer as he seems to fault her and keep Mehmeh in this golden light. I really identifed with some of the descriptions Lada had about her brother, the times she ached with that need to protect him from the world and that he above all others was hers. As an older sister, I definitely recognized that feeling!
I really enjoyed the setting of this really old Europe and Middle East and I enjoyed some of the emphasis on Islam as a religion and Radu's peaceful journey in finding God with Islam. I feel like it's a religion that's not mentioned a lot in books, and to see it mentioned here without it being linked in with violence or extremism etc.
Overall, just a fantastic book and I CAN'T WAIT for the next book!!!!...more
I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
Nancy is a teenage girl who is adjusting to I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
Nancy is a teenage girl who is adjusting to having to live in a normal world again after she walked through a door in her cellar and found herself in a magical underworld land. Nancy's parents don't understand why she's different and send her to a special school for children like her. Nancy finds out that all of the students in her new school have been through portals and doors like hers and are trying to find their way back, including her teachers. Just as Nancy starts feeling less alone, disaster strikes and she has a mystery to solve.
I loved this! I knew from the get go that I had to read this short story. It was like an answer to everything I had always wondered. How did Wendy, Michael and John feel about having to live in normal old England without pirates and indians to fight, and fairy dust to help them fly? How did the Pevensies deal with having to grow up all over again, and stop being royalty? This story lets us know all the little things these other characters may have had to deal with in such cases.
This book starts off feeling quite magical but quickly turns into a dark and creepy murder mystery when the students start turning up dead with body parts missing. I definitely did the usual thing, suspecting everyone and fearing for my favourite characters. I did guess who it was in the end but I was totally happy okay with it. It was very intriguing to see how it all wrapped up.
I love how there were characters of different sexualities like Nancy who is asexual and Kabe who is transsexual. There was a beautiful acceptance among the characters and i l loved Nancy's inner monologue about how she felt. It really gave me, as a heterosexual person, an insight into what a person who is asexual feels and must think about things when it comes to romance and relationships in a way I've never experienced before in other books.
This book is just chockablock full of beautiful observations and metaphors. It's magical, and creepy and poignant and a must-read. ...more
I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
Suzy is 13 years old and dealing with the deI received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
Suzy is 13 years old and dealing with the death of her best friend who drowned during the summer. When Suzy discovers the vast world of the jellyfish, she decides that a jellyfish sting must be why Franny died and sets out to prove it to the world.
I wasn't expecting to love this book as much as I did but I absolutely adored it. It was much faster-paced than I expected too. I think because I knew there were a lot of jellyfish facts in it, I thought i would get a bit bogged down in them and it would slow down my reading but nope. I finished this book in one sitting.
Ultimately this is a book about a girl who has just started her teenage years and discovering that the world is a much vaster and confusing place than she originally thought. And with Franny's death, Suzy has to confront the fact that dying is something that happens to young people, and that sometimes things like that just happen for no reason at all.
I really found myself identifying with Suzy. Particularly her issues with friends and everyone growing up that bit faster than her. Her confusion over the sudden gap between her and Franny and why she was suddenly left behind while the girls did their make-up and flirted with the boys. I think a lot of people could feel for Suzy in this one, as she's not the only person who's ever felt left behind.
I loved Suzy's relationships as well. Her family were all amazing. Yes, they did bring her to a therapist to talk about the not talking situation but they never pushed her, or grew frustrated with her. They were there waiting, ready for when she was ready to accept everything and be there for her when she did. Her brother and his boyfriend, yes. I love how there was no big deal about Aaron being gay. There was no in depth story about him coming out or any controversy in the family because of it. Her parents were divorced but still on talking terms, and seemed to still be on pretty good terms considering they were separated. I also loved Mrs Thurton and her quiet observations and suggestions. It's always great to see a good teacher/mentor-student relationship and a teacher really offering that safe haven for a student who just needs that time and space. Ans Justin was just lovely. I really loved his explanations of ADHD and how his medication helped.
This book was such a pleasant surprise and I would really urge everyone to read it, just to see if it will surprise you too. And who knew there were so many interesting facts about jellyfish!
I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
I feel like my heart has been wrung out likeI received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
I feel like my heart has been wrung out like a dishcloth. I'm emotionally drained after reading this book. It's very very good.
Salt to the Sea follows Joana, Florian, Emilia as they travel through a war-torn Prussia to seek as safe voyage to somewhere better than where they ended up. Alfred is a German soldier on the Wilhelm Gustloff and eventually meets up with the other three characters and they all end up in the centre of a disaster that killed more people than the Titanic.
This book was really fast-paced and I flew right through it. I found it very hard to put down and I think it's because I connected with so many of the characters. I say so many when I actually mean all of them except Alfred because he was a creep. I really felt like every moment from each character revealed a little more about themselves. They all had their secrets and were very much a mystery at the start of the book but slowly they start to reveal themselves to each other and love each other. I think I spent most of the book in absolute awe of Emilia. She was an exquisite character. So innocent after everything she had been through but so strong, and good and kind. I think she's a character that will stick with me for a long time.
I had never heard of the disaster before and I can't believe I haven't considering 9,000 people lost their lives in it. It's hard not to compare scenes of the ship sinking to the scenes from the movie Titanic, the panic, the women and children drowning, the fear of lifeboats overcrowding. I felt a sense of unease about how so much of this book could be compared to what's going on in the world today with the refugee crisis - people leaving their home in a war-torn country with all their belongings on their back and very little hope of surviving, the danger of drowning, of their children drowning. I think the book came out at a pretty perfect time.
The ending was a little bit abrupt. I would have liked it to have been laid out as more of an epilogue style and it wasn't, at least for me on my Kindle. I almost didn't realise I was reading an epilogue of sorts and had to go back and start the chapter again.
This book is so beautiful with characters so deep and raw, you will not be able to put their story down. It's a book that needs to be read so finally, their story can finally be told.
I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
Liddi lives on a planet where technology is I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
Liddi lives on a planet where technology is the be all and end all. She also happens to be the heiress of the biggest tech company on the planet and is the youngest sister to eight brothers. When Liddi is almost kidnapped by a group of mercenaries and brothers mysteriously disappear, Liddi knows something is up. As she attempts to figure it out, she ends up discovering something amazing and ending up on an unknown neighbouring planet. Without the use of her voice, Liddi must make friends and save her family (and her world).
I went into this pretty blind. I read the summary of the book on Goodreads and I'm not sure why but it made my brain melt a little bit and no information went in at all. So all I knew was it was sci-fi YA and that was about it. I didn't expect to get so sucked into the story but I really did. I like sci-fi but I don't read a whole load of it and I was afraid that I would get a little bit overwhelmed and while at first Liddi's world is a bit confusing, over time I got used to it and the structure of her own planet and the other seven plus the final unknown eight planet. I would actually love more books in this kind of galaxy (is that the right word?) as I found the different alien species and the brief description of the other planets fascinating.
I loved Liddi's relationship with her family and I really felt for her as she struggled to save them. She has such a special bond with every brother and her little memories with all of them, and her parents, were very heart-warming. Her relationship with her family was definitely one of my favourite things about the book and even though the brothers were not really in a lot of the book, except Liddi's memories, I ended up loving all of them too as it was clear their love for their sister, and each other, was as equal.
I thought the storyline of Liddi losing her voice was an excellent one. I'm not familiar with The Wild Swans which I believe this was a retelling of so it just reminded me of The Little Mermaid. I found myself gasping in shock and make-believe pain at parts because I knew Liddi couldn't. There were times I knew she needed to cry out so I found myself wanting to do it for her instead!
Overall, this was a fantastic book and I enjoyed every moment of it. Liddi was a wonderful, strong and kind-hearted female protagonist with brains to burn and if every female character could be like her, we'd be on to a winner....more
I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
You followedHoly effing shit, this was good.
I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
You followed Joe as he fell in love with Beck and became rather...obsessed with her. Caroline Kepnes' first book with Joe was chilling and creepy and downright fascinating. Hidden Bodies continues Joe's story and we go different places with him, in both location and sanity.
It's literally hard for me right now to write down my thoughts on this book as my head is spinning from it. It took me so many places and I was really on the edge of my seat for most of the latter half of the book. Joe seems to take on new life in this book and he wasn't so one-minded in this one as he was in You. I felt like he became a little bit more dimensional for me, and he stopped being someone just obsessed about someone loving him back but someone with other dreams and aspirations. It seemed we experienced with Joe, the moment he stopped and realised he could really be someone in life, and I really felt the excitement and nervousness along with him. Like in You, I really wanted things to go right for Joe and felt really happy when they did, and angry and sad when they didn't. Joe is not a good person and he does terrible things yet, for some weird reason, this book makes me forget about common sense and I just really love Joe.
I found the other characters in this book fascinating, in particular Love and her family. I really liked Love and couldn't figure out if she was an open book or much more complex than she was making out. I found Beck very unlikeable in You and I often wondered why Joe liked her so much and she was a bit of a mess. Love was a little bit more put together and while she definitely was a bit off-the-wall, I dunno, she just fit Joe so much more. I found Forty pretty fun to read as well plus everything to do with The Pantry and all the celebrity name-dropping. I really hope Reese Witherspoon and Amy Adams read this book and are like, "wait, what?"
One of the problems with You was how convenient everything wrapped up for Joe. I always felt he got off a little too easily so it was great to see him worrying now and again about certain things that happened in the first book. There were definitely times in this book that I felt Joe get too messy and I didn't think he was covering his tracks and I was so worried. It was almost like he had done it so many times, it just became a solution to all his problems rather than facing it like a normal person.
BUT HOW CAN IT END LIKE THAT? I feel like I'm dangling on a precipice and I just need Caroline Kepnes to hold out the promise of another book for a safety net. I need more, more, more! I definitely don't want this to be the last of Joe Goldberg....more
I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
Alex works a pretty boring desk job in the I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
Alex works a pretty boring desk job in the immigration office, pretty much going through the same motions every day until he comes across a visa application for a Russian girl called Nadia. Something about Nadia and her friend's character references sticks out and Alex remembers her. Like a twist of fate, Alex bumps into Nadia a week later and the two become unlikely friends - taking trips around London to brighten up Alex's life while also making sure Nadia sees everything she needs to see before her inevitable deportation.
I really loved this book. From the get go it was super cute and all the characters were very relatable and likeable. Alex had a cute shyness that reminded me of Lincoln from Attachments by Rainbow Rowell, as well as the slight likeness in getting to know Nadia through correspondence read in work. Nadia was very bubbly and hard not to like. She was kind and hard-working and didn't mope about feeling sorry for herself. I don't know much about immigration rules and about the visa process but I thought the novel was good in showing how frustrating it was to be waiting around for something that could change the rest of your life. The journey to her appeal was a pretty bleak one and Nadia had a wonderful support system - friends that were more or less her family. It's hard to imagine what something like that must be like for someone going it alone.
While this book was definitely full of the not-so-surprising twists and turns you'd expect in a rom-com book, it was just such a pleasure to read. I completely fell in love with all the characters, and the friend group had such a lovely dynamic that even included Alex and Rory (thankfully not Lili). I definitely recommend anyone to pick this up for a light-hearted yet touching read, plus it really gives you those London feels and made me want to back to the beautiful city straight away!...more
Vianne and Isabelle are two sisters living in Nazi occupied France during WW2. While completely different in personality, the two sisters find themselVianne and Isabelle are two sisters living in Nazi occupied France during WW2. While completely different in personality, the two sisters find themselves sucked into different parts of the war effort. What happens is an extraordinary tale of strength, love and hope.
Ugh this was so beautiful. It's the kind of book that makes you feel like someone has reached it and squeezed your heart to bits because emotions, emotions, emotions. It's also a quiet kind of story, you don't fall head over heels in love with it right away. I didn't realise I was so sucked in and so invested in these women until over halfway through when it hit me like a ton of bricks. Things started getting really intense and I found myself worrying about Vianne and Isabelle and some of the dangerous situations they found themselves in. Truly a story of women's amazing courage during wartime.
The setting was great, the pacing was great, the characters were great from Vianne and Isabelle to Beck and Ari/Daniel. I love moments like the very end of this book when you get sucker punched with emotion and can't help but tear up. A MUST READ for every WW2-fiction lover....more
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