Review: Words in Deep Blue

Review:

 

Another one I was lucky enough to snag from Hatchette Children’s on Netgalley (and another one I somehow managed to lose the review file and bought a finished paperback for).

 

I think this is a case of I liked the concept of this book, I loved the supporting characters, but I completely hated the main characters for most of the book. The book is an Australian based YA, telling the story of two main characters, Rachel and Henry.

 

Henry’s family own a popular second hand book stop, and have this wonderful thing called a Letter Library, a section of the bookshop stuffed with books that aren’t for sale, but where customers can put letters in the books where anyone can pick them and read them, and maybe write back. This was such a wonderful concept, there’s something about writing a letter where you can express yourself in words that you would never be able to say to someone’s face. Rachel and Henry were best friends, but Rachel has been crushing on Henry for years and never told him. When her family has to move, Rachel leaves a letter for Henry in his favourite book in the Letter Library telling him how she feels.

 

By this time Henry has a girlfriend, the beautiful Amy, who Rachel doesn’t really like much or get along with that brilliantly. Henry never finds the letter. Fast forward to school being over, Rachel is suffering from a family tragedy and struggling to cope, she hasn’t told any of her friends about what happened and is keeping everything bottled up inside. I found Rachel aloof, cold and rude. Yes, I get she’s going through something terrible and I could certainly empathise with her, but I really did not like her as a character at all. Her attitude grated on my nerves.

 

Rachel comes back to her former home town to move in with an aunt. She finds a job at Henry’s family’s bookshop. She hasn’t spoken to Henry since she left and he never found her letter. Henry meanwhile, is moping over a broken heart. His beloved girlfriend Amy has broken up with him, just weeks before they were scheduled to go on a round the world trip together. Henry can’t get over it, he can’t figure our or understand why Amy had ended the relationship. 

 

Out of the two characters, Henry was marginally more likeable than Rachel. He was friendly and approachable, though he spent most of the novel pining over Amy and basically acting like a love sick moron. It got very annoying very quickly.

 

One thing I really loved about the novel was the supporting characters. Henry had a wonderful family, his mom and dad were active characters, as was his sister George. Rachel’s aunt was also wonderful. The two of them had the same friends, and some additional characters came in, and I loved them all. I just didn’t like Rachel and Henry (or Amy and her douchebag new boyfriend). 

 

The more time they spend together the more Henry realises he might have feelings for Rachel, and Rachel finally finds herself dealing with some of the stuff she’s been going through and talking about it, and therefore finally able to get to a place where she can be comfortable with herself and move on. 

 

It was well written, and very easy to picture what was going on. As I said, I just did not like the two main characters at all. There were some lovely emotional parts towards the end, but it wasn’t really enough to give this book a wow factor for me. It was just okay. 

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1865256/review-words-in-deep-blue

Review: Girlhood

Review:

I received a copy from Netgalley. This was one I got with my Hatchette Children’s auto approvals. I had heard of the author before, but never read any of her books so I decided to take a chance on this one. 

 

Trigger warning - anorexia. 

 

Then between changing Kindles and changing iPhones I managed to loose the original review copy file and ended up buying a finished paperback (along with several others by the same author).

 

I have a weakness for boarding school stories, particularly ones that promise a mystery. I was sort of expecting one girl vs the mean girl gang. But the main character Harper seems to actually be friends with some of the girls who form one of the popular cliques. It’s a fancy private school where very rich people goes. Harper’s family recently came into a boat load of money. Also suffering from a terrible family tragedy where Harper’s twin sister died recently as well, Harper needed a change of scene so found the boarding school.  She’s made friends and just about coping. 

 

Harper was a likeable enough main character, though she had a few flaws and could do some crappy things and wasn’t always the brightest bulb in the box, but a decently rounded character that was well fleshed out. She’s also dealing with terrible guilt believing her sister’s death was her fault. The sister was anorexic.  They both started a post Christmas diet at the same time and one took it more seriously with tragic consequences.  Anorexia isn’t something I’ve come across in YA fiction before, and it’s not something I can even begin to wrap my head around. Harper’s grief and guilt are gut punch. The writing packs a punch and can be emotional without being flowery about it. 

 

When new girl Katie comes in Harper finds herself connecting with Katie, despite the issues her other friends seem to have with the girl. Katie is quiet and keeps to herself, she only seems to connect with Harper. Misunderstandings and misinformation start passing around and with any girls boarding school, the girls can be very nasty when things don’t go their way. Harper finds herself torn when things start going wrong, stick to her own group of friends, stand with Katie...disagreements and arguments start and its hard to tell the truths from the lies. 

 

It’s a very compelling read and at times quite tough to get through emotionally. Not the most complex book I’ve ever read but definitely interesting. All the characters were interesting, even the ones I didn’t like much. I was rather surprised at how it all turned out in the end, certainly not what I expected, and I’m actually quite pleased on reflection, that it was different to what I thought.

 

Definitely recommended if you like YA boarding school books. 

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1864494/review-girlhood

Dnf Blanca and Roja

Review:

DNF I have no clue what’s going on in this one. And not invested in the characters enough to want to read more and find out.

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1863065/dnf-blanca-and-roja

DNF: Red Harvest

Review:

Calling it quits on this one.

 

I really wanted to like it as it had everything I like in small town horror. Characters from the normal to the weird, a sense of community in a place where there's history, everyone's known each other a local Halloween tradition, a family with a creepy secret. It's clear something is going to go very wrong very quickly.

 

I'm losing patience with the story, there's too many characters to keep track of and it seems like too much going on. My other major problem with this book is how poorly it's edited. Random words are missing from sentences or in some instances entire sentences are missing and while with most you can get the idea of what's going on, it's annoying and jars you out of the narrative. I've had enough, DNF. Not for me.

 

Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Books for the review copy.

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1863042/dnf-red-harvest

Review: The Towering Sky

Review:

I received a copy from Netgalley.

 

I finished a trilogy!!!!

 

This will be a super short review because it’s going to very hard to avoid spoilers as this is the conclusion of an epic series.

 

A satisfying ending with all the questions and lose ends tied up.

 

We finally get the will-they-won’t-they answer to Rylin and Cole. Leda and Watt get a conclusion and start looking towards their futures. Watt has some pretty tough choices to make regarding his education and his super computer implant Nadia. Leda has some demons to deal with and amends to make for her crappy behaviour. The secrets between Avery and Atlas finally come full circle. Not, of course, without it’s drama. Calliope and her con artist mother have their work cut out for her when one Calliope’s former marks, who happens to be Cole’s older brother Brice turns up hot on her heels. But things take an unexpected turn. Avery makes a life changing decision.

 

Same epic world building and emotional drama as the first two. Glitz and glamor, romance and betrayal, questionable motives and morals abound. What’s not to love? As with the other two, it doesn’t take any great effort to enjoy this, it’s fun and easy to read and great ending.

 

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK Children’s.

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1860501/review-the-towering-sky

Review: The Hunger

Review:

I received a copy from Netgalley.

 

I’ve been morbidly curious about The Donner party ever since I read Stephen King’s The Shining where The Donners are referenced. I looked it up – it was a true story, a disturbing one, but a true one. So I was really looking forward to this book as soon as I heard about it.

 

I was really excited when I got my review request approved, and when I started reading, I liked it so much I bought a finished copy after a few chapters and read that. This one took a while to get used to the style of the writing. There were an awful lot of characters to keep track off, some got more detailed back stories than others. It was hard to keep track of who everyone was.

 

But the more I read the more fascinated I became with it. There’s a real sense of history and how hard it was for the people making the trek to California. The hardships they went through. The relationships between the people is well written. It’s brutal as well – not everyone is going to get along, obviously, so many people have so many different thoughts, feelings, opinion, violence will breed, love, lust, obsession, hatred…

Thea

The author does a brilliant job of capturing a storm of emotions. As well as putting a spooky twist on the story.

 

It did drag a bit in the middle, but as conditions slowly started getting worse and seeds of mistrust and doubt deepened amongst the people, the story picked up again and was unputdownable towards the end, and quite frightening as the winter hit really bad.

 

A hard book to read in parts, but so, so worth it. I loved it. And would definitely read it again.

 

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers.

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1860499/review-the-hunger

Review: While You Sleep

Review:

I received a copy from Netgalley.

 

This one came to me in one of those “read it now for the first 200 members” emails. I love gothic thrillers when they’re movies, particularly ones with a Scottish setting. So why not give it a go? I really liked what I read enough to buy a finished hardback.

 

Not my usual type of read, but this one caught my interest right away. I was intrigued with the mystery surrounding the main character, Zoe. She seemed quite cold and standoffish. She comes to a remote Scottish island to rent a manor with a foreboding location and gloomy history looking to get away from a tragedy and a failing marriage. The writing is delicious and the whole thing has a delightfully creepy and murky atmosphere to it.

 

Like with any small town, I would imagine, a community where people have known each other forever, Zoe is an anomaly and the subject of curiosity. The locals obviously know a lot more about the manor she is renting than they do. A strange history and the sight of recent traumatic event as well. Nosy neighbours galore, and unwanted attention from creepy men, Zoe does her best to keep to herself and deal with her own drama.

 

Doesn’t happen, of course. She finds herself drawn into the mysteries of the manor, the history and starts to get to know some of the locals pretty well. There was a surprising and well written erotic element to the mystery side of things as well. The characters were well fleshed out and believable,  even the unlikeable ones.

 

There were quite a few surprising twists, one or two of them I worked out, but some of them managed to surprise me. The tension was exceptionally well built throughout. The imagery was really vivid and the writing made it very easy to picture what was going on. I would love to see this book made into a movie.

 

Highly recommended and really, really good.

 

Definitely an author I will read again.

 

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for the review copy.

 

 

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1860495/review-while-you-sleep

DNF: A Blade So Black

Review:

This was one of my most anticipated books of last year. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. After two months I’ve barely made it past a hundred pages and have gone to the conclusion that I just don’t like it. I kind the idea of the book but the plot isn’t grabbing my attention, the world building is all over the place and I don’t really care about any of the characters. Which sucks because I really wanted to love this book. But I just don’t. So unfortunately it’s one for the DNF pile.

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1856199/dnf-a-blade-so-black