Category: fiction reviews

99 Days With You by Catherine Miller

Posted in fiction reviewsTagged , , , Leave a comment

This had me reaching for the tissues! An emotional, heart-wrenching, beautiful story, and one that will stay with me for a long time.

Sometimes the end is the start of forever…
Emma and Nathan couldn’t be more different. But when they meet in a hospital waiting room, to the sound of a ticking clock and surrounded by faded magazines, they are both terrified, nervous and alone. And they have one fatal thing in common…
Emma lives a quiet life. She looks after her disabled mother. She lives vicariously through the well-thumbed pages and cracked spines of her beloved books.
Nathan spends his days fifteen thousand feet above the ground, soaring through the air, stomach somersaulting, as a sky diving instructor. After a lifetime of having a recurring dream that he would die at twenty-seven, he treats every day like it’s his last.
As fate throws Emma and Nathan together, everything is about to change.
Emma has never been kissed, or tasted champagne, or travelled abroad. Nathan has never fallen in love, worn odd socks, or grown a sunflower from a seed.
Emma and Nathan vow never to waste an hour, knowing that goodbye could come all too soon. But as they lose their hearts to one another against all the odds, have they found each other too late?

This book had me hooked right from the beginning. Yes, it’s a book ‘about cancer’, but really it is so so much more than that. The characters are truly beautifully written, and so even before they were diagnosed with cancer, their sense of self and the way Miller presents their inner thoughts and dreams had me falling in love with them immediately.

What I loved so much about this book was that it focused on meaningful and beautiful messages, that resonated even more strongly with the cancer diagnoses they both received. This is a love story, but it’s also a story about life. It’s about how to make the most of the life we have, even in the darkest of times. It’s about how the smallest things can bring us joy, and that those moments are more precious than we realise.

I felt like Miller wrote about cancer, their diagnosis, and their experiences really well. It was sensitive and emotional, but she wasn’t afraid to discuss the harder and more realistic topics when needed. It was quite hard-hitting in places, and the end was incredibly emotional, but I felt it was done exactly right.

If you like character-centric books, then you will especially love this. The depth of emotion explored in both Emma and Nathan is incredible, and meant that I felt very connected to both of them.

This was such a beautiful book to read, and I would definitely recommend this to anyone.

99 Days With You
Catherine Miller
Bookouture, 19th June 2019

BLOG TOUR: The Escape Room by Megan Goldin

Posted in blog tour, fiction reviews, thriller reviewTagged , , , , Leave a comment

This was a claustrophobic, fast-paced and clever book, with characters who were explored in lots of detail.

Welcome to the escape room. Your goal is simple. Get out alive.
In the lucrative world of Wall Street finance, Vincent, Jules, Sylvie and Sam are the ultimate high-flyers. Ruthlessly ambitious, they make billion-dollar deals and live lives of outrageous luxury. Getting rich is all that matters, and they’ll do anything to get ahead.
When the four of them become trapped in an elevator escape room, things start to go horribly wrong. They have to put aside their fierce office rivalries and work together to solve the clues that will release them. But in the confines of the elevator the dark secrets of their team are laid bare. They are made to answer for profiting from a workplace where deception, intimidation and sexual harassment thrive.
Tempers fray and the escape room’s clues turn more and more ominous, leaving the four of them dangling on theprecipice of disaster. If they want to survive, they’ll have to solve one more final puzzle: which one of them is a killer?

The concept of this was really fascinating. This is an escape room like no other, with obscure clues and a real sense of claustrophobia throughout. At first, it’s slightly confusing, with a prologue that seems to make no sense, and the introduction of a character who seems to be unconnected. It’s confusing but ultimately fascinating, and I was hooked immediately. The beginning works well because it seems to be disjointed – the scenes are cleverly shocking, and entices the reader to keep going to find out what exactly is going on.

It’s hard not to give too much away about this book… The scenes in the elevator offered insight into the four characters, and showed their twisted relationships with each other as well as their own personal battles. As time went on, it was clear they were losing hope, becoming frustrated and getting increasingly desperate. The emotions were right on the surface, and these scenes were written so well.

There are also chapters that don’t take place in the elevator, and these were actually some of my favourite scenes in the book. They were clever, seemingly not linked, and kept me really hooked until I knew how it all worked together. I don’t want to give too much away, but these chapters become more intense as times goes on and it’s so clever.

Although I partly predicted one aspect of the ending, I definitely didn’t get any of the details. The ending was less about the sudden shock factor, and more about a slow, tense and twisted ending that left the reader feeling both shocked and satisfied. I’ve not read an ending that had so much going on in a while, but it really worked with the tone of the novel, and I couldn’t have put the book down if I tried.

I read this in the space of a day, it was frightening, tense, clever and definitely twisted. Each of the characters brought a lot to the book, especially the women, and I loved the strong personalities. I’d definitely recommend this if you want something different to read!

BLOG TOUR: The Undoing of Arlo Knott by Heather Child

Posted in blog tour, fiction reviewsTagged , , , , Leave a comment

This was such an emotive, beautifully written and unusual story, and I would 100% recommend.

Arlo Knott develops the mysterious ability to reverse his last action. It makes him able to experience anything, to charm any woman and impress any friend. His is a life free of mistakes, a life without regret. But second chances aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. As wonderful as his new life is, a mistake in Arlo’s traumatic childhood still haunts him and the temptation to undo, undo and keep undoing could be too much to resist.

I loved the whole concept of this, and it definitely didn’t disappoint. Arlo was one of the most fascinating main characters I’ve read in a long time, he was angry, emotional, desperate and a bit heart-broken. His search for joy and happiness was definitely hard to watch at times, but he was just such a strong character.

This book is definitely more about the character progression than the story itself (or that’s how it seemed to me), but I loved it. Seeing Arlo’s guilt about the choices he makes, the things he chooses to redo, the actions that he erases, it’s all very emotional. It’s powerful at times, and also tackles some very deep and distressing emotions for Arlo, and so seeing his progression throughout the novel is very meaningful.

The story itself, while simple, complements the power of the story very well. It’s not complex, but it’s emotive, and I loved Sabra. She’s vivid, bright and full of big emotions, which pairs with Arlo’s intensity very well.

I really didn’t expect the ending, it was touching and sad, but also was something that made perfect sense to me now that I knew Arlo’s character so well. I really don’t see how it could have ended any other way, and I loved how it was written.

If you want something different to read, this is such a beautiful book, so I’d definitely recommend this.

Thank you to Tracy Fenton for organising this!

The Undoing of Arlo Knott
Heather Child
Orbit, 1st August 2019

BLOG TOUR: Sisters of Willow House

Posted in blog tour, fiction reviewsTagged , , , , Leave a comment

This was such a heart-warming, genuine and beautiful novel, with gorgeous scenery descriptions and great personalities.

Roisin McKenna and her husband Cian are taking time apart. Unsure of what she wants, Roisin’s prayers are answered when she receives a call from her sister Maeve who is desperate for her help.
Roisin heads to Sandy Cove to help Maeve restore their aunt’s gorgeous tumbledown mansion Willow House and soon all she has time to focus on are its crumbling walls. Despite a shocking announcement from Maeve and hidden secrets in the house’s rafters, Roisin begins to feel a sense of self she’s been missing for years.
The ties that bind Roisin to her husband seem to be unfurling in the Irish wind, when she unexpectedly stumbles into a mysterious man on the beach. Suddenly, she’s swept up in the idea of another life she could lead…
The restoration may have brought the sisters back together, but as a storm rolls over the coast Roisin feels sure she must make a choice. Will her time at Willow House teach her the precious lessons she needs to return home or has the cove called to her in ways she’d never imagined it could?

I enjoyed this immensely, which was a pleasant surprise as it’s quite different to the genres I normally read. However, I really loved the characters, especially Roisin, and felt that I was easily able to connect with her and her story.

I loved the descriptions of Willow House and the surrounding coast, it was really beautiful and often fit with the mood of the plot which was a nice touch. It made visualising the story really easy as well, and so I thought this worked great.

Roisin was such a fun character. She definitely wasn’t perfect, and she had ups and downs throughout the novel, but she was full of emotion and I felt really able to connect with her. I liked the friendships and relationships she had throughout the novel, especially with her sister who was a brilliant and stable influence on her.

The plot itself was fun, uplifting at times, and slightly stressful at others, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It had it’s hilarious moments, and it also demonstrated real struggles in relationships, with I think worked really well together.

Overall, this was a great read, and one I would definitely recommend!

Sisters of Willow House
Susanne O’Leary
Bookouture, 26th July 2019

BLOG TOUR: The Night You Left by Emma Curtis

Posted in blog tour, fiction reviews, thriller reviewTagged , , , , , , Leave a comment

I loved how this switched from the past to the present, offering different perspectives on various events, building up to a fantastic ending.

It only takes a moment to unravel a perfect life…
When Grace’s fiancé vanishes without a trace the night after proposing, her life is turned upside down. But has Nick walked out on her, or is he in danger?
As Grace desperately searches for answers, it soon becomes clear that Nick wasn’t the uncomplicated man she thought she knew. And when she uncovers a hidden tragedy from his childhood, she realises an awful truth: that you can run from your past – but your secrets will always catch up with you . . .

What a book. I really loved this, I loved the switching perspectives and timelines, Grace was a fantastic main character, and the level of suspicion and intensity throughout was brilliant. The story starts pretty much instantly, with the disappearance of Grace’s husband Nick. The reason why I liked this so much is that it doesn’t give the reader much of a chance to gauge Nick as a character, so the reason why he goes missing is even more of a mystery.

It’s really fast-paced, Grace’s urgency and frustration is clear to see, and her pain practically radiates out of the pages. I also liked the chapters that went back in time, and showed Nick’s childhood. It helped build the tension up, especially as there were characters that weren’t present in the current timeline. It also meant that only half the book was written in the present, so the action had to move quickly, and it worked really well. The chapters that were written from the past were actually some of my favourite parts of the book; because the characters in these chapters were children, their emotions were so raw and heightened, that I really found myself sympathising and connecting with them.

Grace herself was a brilliant main character, she was very emotional, frustrated, upset but there was a real determination to find out what happened to Nick. Her relationship with her in-laws was so stifling, and the love and strength she showed to her daughter was so endearing. All the different parts of her character were shown, and the writing was so good. The other characters throughout the book were just as well written; Douglas was a serious, powerful man, and Anna’s vulnerability and wariness came through as well. It was hard to make out who to feel suspicious of, demonstrating yet again why the book was so good. I consistently felt uncertain, tense and desperate to find out what happened.

I thought the ending was brilliant. It’s definitely quite unexpected, and there’s a lot that happens so it really hooked me in, and I couldn’t put it down. It was fast-paced, with lots of action, and it brings in all the elements of both timelines really well.

This is such a great read, it’s thrilling, emotional, tense and has some truly brilliant characters. I’d definitely recommend this!

The Night You Left
Emma Curtis
Transworld Digital, 22nd July 2019

Bookish Bites: Little Girl Sleeping by Jennifer Chase

Posted in bookish bites, crime reviews, fiction reviewsTagged , , , Leave a comment

He looked down at the little girl, sleeping peacefully, her arms wrapped around a teddy bear. He knew he was the only one who could save her. He could let her sleep forever.
An eight-year-old girl, Chelsea Compton, is missing in Pine Valley, California and for Detective Katie Scott it’s a cruel reminder of the friend who disappeared from summer camp twenty years ago. Unable to shake the memories, Katie vows she won’t rest until she discovers what happened to Chelsea.
But as Katie starts to investigate, the case reveals itself to be much bigger and more shocking than she feared. Hidden deep in the forest she unearths a makeshift cemetery: a row of graves, each with a brightly coloured teddy bear.
Katie links the graves to a stack of missing-persons cases involving young girls—finding a pattern no one else has managed to see. Someone in Pine Valley has been taking the town’s daughters for years, and Katie is the only one who can stop them.
And then another little girl goes missing, snatched from the park near her home.
Katie’s still haunted by the friend she failed to protect, and she’ll do anything to stop the killer striking again—but can she find the little girl before it’s too late?

Loved Katie, the main character! She was so strong, yet definitely had her vulnerable side and very likeable and easy for the reader to engage with. I also thought the plot was brilliant, it was tense, sinister, unpredictable and the ending took me completely by surprise.

Disliked the added detail that one of Katie’s friends as a child had also gone missing. Combined with the fact she had just come out the army, it felt like a lot for her to contend with and perhaps a bit much to throw at the reader all at once. The scenes where she ‘saw’ her missing childhood friend didn’t seem to fit the story at times. I would personally rather have seen more exploration of her emotions regarding her years in the army, but as I said, I generally really loved her as a character.

Favourite moment was probably when Katie was hiking through the woods. Although her intention was to look for the missing girls, the description of the countryside and Katie’s emotions was so vivid and clear that I felt really connected to the scene, as if I could have been there myself!

Favourite character is Katie at the moment, but I do have a soft spot for her deputy, McGaven. I’d love to hopefully see more of him in the rest of the series.

For fans of Carol Wyers and Angela Marsons

Final comments: This is a really fast-paced, emotive and incredibly tense book, with a strong and determined main character and the beginning of what looks to be an awesome series.

BLOG TOUR: Lucy’s Last Straw by Debbie Viggiano

Posted in blog tour, fiction reviews, womens fictionTagged , , , , , Leave a comment

This book was SO much fun to read, I tore through it in a day because it’s such an enjoyable, hilarious yet heartwarming book.

It was the toothpaste smeared around the sink that broke my marriage. As I rubbed it away AGAIN, I was reminded of everything else I’ve put up with these twenty-five years. My husband’s obsession with his pension, his ability to charm me into every single one of his ideas, never being taken on a romantic date, let alone ravished on the patio (like the woman who lives next door)… small things, but the realisation was huge.
Just when Lucy Jones thinks her marriage is about to screech to a halt over toothpaste, her husband, Leo, announces he wants to move to tumbledown (clapped-out) Rose Cottage, and Lucy knows she’ll be the one managing the renovations.
Then along comes gorgeous builder Will, ten years younger and the only person actually listening to Lucy. His twinkly eyes and blowtorch smile are causing Lucy to break out in a hot sweat – but is it love, lust or simply dodgy hormones that are causing her heart to flutter?
Lucy loves her husband, but everyone knows that little things build up. And then they explode. Can Lucy keep it together, or will there be one last straw she might not be able to get over?

I have one main thing to say about Lucy… What. A. Character! She’s brilliant, with extreme emotions, funny conversations with her dog, truly hilarious inner monologues and a radiating confidence in herself and her abilities. She’s so outgoing, and I really warmed to her – I think it would be hard not to! I don’t read too many books from this genres, but this has well and truly made me a convert, as I had so much fun reading this.

The plot itself is funny, off the rails, with lots of larger than life characters, and that’s the whole fun of it. It is over the top and the unexpected always seems to happen, but it’s just great to read. It centres around Lucy’s husband Leo persuading her to buy a run-down house to renovate, then jetting off to America for a new job, and a hunky builder hanging around Lucy’s house all the time while the hubby’s away… It’s outrageous, it’s laugh-out-loud funny, and totally fun to read. Lucy’s reactions to everything are always so over the top, but it makes the book unpredictable, and that’s the whole fun of it. Her theories and suspicions about her husband and his affair, while they have a hint of seriousness at times, are generally assumed from the most obscure clues so there is still a sense of lighthearted-ness about it. There are moments when her insecurities show through, and this is why she’s such a relatable character, but her inner confidence soon radiates through and she’s back to her usual loud and outrageous self!

Lucy’s flirtation with Will seems harmless, but definitely gets steamier throughout, until it reaches possibly one of the most hilarious scenes of the whole novel… Lucy’s descriptions leave little to the imagination! There are lots of other great characters in this, from her sweet daughter Amy, to her bullish and prissy daughter Jessica, and my personal favourite, her best friend Patsy. All of them bring something to the novel, whether it be a serious tone, a friendly lecture, or a reminder that life is about having fun!

This is a laugh-a-minute, fast-paced, compulsive and generally heartwarming book, about friendships, love, betrayal and romance. The ending just sums up the book perfectly, with a final detail that definitely made me chuckle! It’s a perfect summer read.

Lucy’s Last Straw
Debbie Viggiano
Bookouture, 15th July 2019