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Monday 31 October 2016

Review: 13 Minutes

Review:

13 Minutes - Sarah Pinborough

I received a copy from Netgalley.

 

This is a brilliant twisty turning mystery with a somewhat chilling feeling of just how nasty and manipulative teenage girls can be when they don’t get their own way. I didn’t find a single likeable or redeemable character in this novel, and usually when I can’t stand the characters I have no interest in the novel.

 

However, the novel was so exceptionally well written that the story itself was pretty unputdownable. I read the first 20% or so one afternoon, and then the next time I picked it up, I found myself reading the rest, I had to know what the hell was going on.

 

This is a UK based novel set at a sixth form college (17/18 year olds go just before going to college/university). The novel focuses on two main characters, Becca and Natasha who used to be best friends whilst growing up, with another girl Hayley in their little group. But as they grew up Becca didn’t fit the image that Tasha wanted so Becca was frozen out and another girl Jenny became best friends with Tasha and Hayley. Tasha is the queen bee of the group Becca has nicknamed the Barbies because they’re all blonde, perfect and popular (and bitchy).

 

Becca is a stoner with a musician boyfriend who has left school. She’s grumpy, moody and has one real friend Hannah who is the class loser. Becca’s only real friend yet she treats Hannah horribly. Worse when she learns Tasha has had a terrible accident but survives. Becca finds herself going to the hospital to see Tasha who has no memory of the terrible thing that happened or the events leading up to it.

 

So the mystery begins. It’s clear right off from chapters of texts between Hayley and Jenny they know something. The novel is told in alternating viewpoints Becca’s third person, Tasha’s first person from a diary the psychiatrist asked her to keep, police notes and psychiatrist reports. With Tasha’s memory loss she and Becca start reconnecting and putting the pieces together much to the dismay of Hayley, Jenny and Hannah who Becca has started blowing off and being meaner to.

 

While Becca is sullen and moody and quick to answer, Tasha is your typical queen bee bitch. She makes absolutely no apologies for her appalling personality. Hayley and Jenny are cardboard cut-out mean girls with very little personalities of their own – the exception being that Jenny is pegged as trashy and made fun of for being easy and sleeping around. This comes back to be a big plot point later on in the novel.

 

Despite the annoying characters, as the mystery builds and things get darker and twister it’s extremely compelling, it gives the idea that it’s very predictable and you think you know what’s going on, it’s fairly obvious. But then there are quite a few sudden unexpected shock twists. As the twists start happening and the police investigation continues it does take a darker tone. It’s not a comfy pleasant mystery at all. It’s certainly compelling and did leave me with a bit of a chill after the end.

 

Definitely an author I would read again.

 

Thank you Netgalley and Orion Publishing Group for approving my request to view the title.

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1490524/review-13-minutes

Tuesday 18 October 2016

Review: As I Descended

Review:

As I Descended - Robin Talley

I received a copy from Netgalley.

 

I pre ordered this one, as it had been on my wish list for ages and then jumped at the chance as soon as it was on Netgalley, and had a happy dance when I got approved. (Though it did take me shamefully long time actually finish). I’m not sure what it was – but I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I was hoping to.

 

Great cast of characters and double plus points for diversity, but there was just something missing from this one for me. I can’t quite put my finger on what it was. The plot was interesting, and I could pick out the Macbeth parallels. I didn’t study Macbeth in school, so I can’t say how accurately it related, but looking from a few reviews I’ve read it’s a really loose retelling.

 

I think I struggled with it towards the end because it got very weird and very confusing, at least for me. Though I was fairly surprised by the ending, it certainly wasn’t what I expected, but on reflection I suppose it suited the Shakespearian tragedy feel.

 

The novel tells the story of Lily and Maria, who attend a very posh boarding school on what used to be a planation. There have been stories and rumours of ghosts on campus for many many years and more than a few tragedies and deaths. Lily and Maria are a couple, even though they are both still in the closet. They want to be done with high school and go to college together. Lily has her ticket to Stanford set, but Maria doesn’t. Maria believes her only option is to win the Cawdor Kingsley Prize scholarship. There’s just one problem in their way – golden girl Delilah Dufrey also head of the line for the Cawdor Kingsley Prize.

 

Delilah is the most popular girl in school – she appears to be friends with both Maria and Lilly. The opening scene is them all hanging out with some other kids doing a séance where weird things start happening right away, there may be a ghost in the room and there’s hints that Maria has some sort of understanding or communication powers with spirits which she is in deep denial of. So Lilly and Maria plot to get Delilah out of the running so Maria can win the prize.

 

It’s an interesting take on how far would you go to stay together and go to be the best you can. With a lot of morality issues as well – which at first seem non existent in this school setting. But some as things progress and the plot gets twistier –there’s that underline attack of conscience and nagging doubt as things quickly descend into darkness and madness.

 

There’s lots going on with ghosts and spirits and something to do with the history of the plantation where the school was built on. Spanners thrown into Maria and Lilly’s happiness when other students start to realize what’s going on – namely Maria’s best friend Brandon and his boyfriend Mateo start putting the pieces together.

 

(The other thing this book has going for it is there isn’t a single hetro couple that gets any focus – which was awesome – it’s all about Lilly and Maria and Brandon and Mateo).

But as the novel goes on and things get creepier, it seems the effect of guilt with the atmosphere in the school and the ghosts takes its toll on everyone’s mind. And this was where it got very confusing, (for me anyway).

 

But it was certainly a gripping read, even if it was weird towards the end.

 

Thank you Netgalley and Mira Ink UK for approving my request to view the title.

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1483857/review-as-i-descended

Monday 17 October 2016

Review: The Smell of Other People's Houses

Review:

The Smell of Other People's Houses - Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

I received a copy from Netgalley when my wish request was granted. I also purchased a finished paperback because I love the UK cover.

 

This was a really interesting book. The paperback has a map in the front of the area in Alaska where the book is set, and it was a little confusing, there were several towns, a river and I could also see a nunnery on the map as well. It was like – how does all this tie together? The plot itself is not a new one, there are four main characters, each chapter is told from a different character’s view point. It tells of how the three main female characters know each other and the others in their small town, and the outsider who comes in.

 

Ruth is madly in love with a boy and keeps sneaking out to see him, Dora has a horribly abusive father and escapes to live with her friend Dumpling, Alyce is a fantastic ballerina but doesn’t want to leave her parents, she works with her dad and her uncle on their fishing boat. Hank and his younger brothers are running away from something.

 

What makes this book unique is it’s setting – it’ Alaska in the 1970s and it’s so different it was almost impossible to picture living this way, (even with a map of the areas). The writing and the narrative are what makes the novel unputdownable. It does deal with a few disturbing issues – Dora’s escape from her horrible father and her annoying, passive enabler mother doesn’t help at all. There is a rather violent scene at the beginning of Ruth’s helping her dad kill and skin a deer and her mother dances in the blood, while it may be a shock to the reader, it seems like the most normal thing in the world for Ruth as a small child. Then her dad dies, her mother loses her mind and is shipped off to an institution and Ruth’s nasty overbearing overly religious grandma comes to look after Ruth and her sister. Alyce’s story I found a little boring – she has the potential to be a really good ballerina, with the option to audition for some big show, but if she gets it – it will mean having to leave the town and her family. There’s a lot about how the fishing side of things work with Alyce’s story. And then Hank and his younger brothers Sam and Jack are running away from something. Though I can’t remember if it was ever really explained what. I didn’t really care much for Hank or his storylines.

 

The novel deals with teen pregnancy as well and has some surprising results as how it brings the girl and the family involved together. It plots along quite well. And at some point all these story lines are supposed to interact. And eventually they do, they were quite a few emotional bits towards the end and some “ah, so that’s how” moments as the story lines connect.

 

Beautifully written, fascinating setting and interesting characters (even if there were one or two story lines I found a little dull). Definitely worth a read for something a little different.

 

Thank you Netgalley and Faber and Faber LTD for granting my wish request.

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1483418/review-the-smell-of-other-people-s-houses