Pallas Poppies
Layla has a normal life but her actor boyfriend is desperate for a break and begs her to be part of a reality show. She accepts and off to tropical paradise, the first night on the island a storm hits and they are now cut off and needs to survive…
“As tensions run high and fresh water runs low, Lyla realises that someone is playing this game for real - and they’ll stop at nothing to win. Ten might have arrived, but who will survive to the end?”
I thought it was going to be a thriller but it’s more a physical drama and doesn’t really connect with the blurb.
It does raise some interesting questions about survival and decisions you might make as a group etc but… I was pretty bored. Maybe not sell it as a thriller full of suspense?
The characters felt paper thin and I didn’t care who lived or died. The MC had an inner dialog, something like, “It must have been horrible to have his young beautiful niece dying”. And yes, the death of ugly young nieces are much easier to deal with. And she also gets surprised that a beautiful woman could be in an abusive relationship. Sure, this were issues that could have been addressed if the MC was vain and all about looks but realizing that survival isn’t skin deep but it doesn’t.
I wanted, “And Then There Were None” in a tropical paradise and I feel cheated. It felt uninspired, thank the Gods I didn’t pay for this books. Libraries are amazing!
Layla has a normal life but her actor boyfriend is desperate for a break and begs her to be part of a reality show. She accepts and off to tropical paradise, the first night on the island a storm hits and they are now cut off and needs to survive…
“As tensions run high and fresh water runs low, Lyla realises that someone is playing this game for real - and they’ll stop at nothing to win. Ten might have arrived, but who will survive to the end?”
I thought it was going to be a thriller but it’s more a physical drama and doesn’t really connect with the blurb.
It does raise some interesting questions about survival and decisions you might make as a group etc but… I was pretty bored. Maybe not sell it as a thriller full of suspense?
The characters felt paper thin and I didn’t care who lived or died. The MC had an inner dialog, something like, “It must have been horrible to have his young beautiful niece dying”. And yes, the death of ugly young nieces are much easier to deal with. And she also gets surprised that a beautiful woman could be in an abusive relationship. Sure, this were issues that could have been addressed if the MC was vain and all about looks but realizing that survival isn’t skin deep but it doesn’t.
I wanted, “And Then There Were None” in a tropical paradise and I feel cheated. It felt uninspired, thank the Gods I didn’t pay for this books. Libraries are amazing!
Layla has a normal life but her actor boyfriend is desperate for a break and begs her to be part of a reality show. She accepts and off to tropical paradise, the first night on the island a storm hits and they are now cut off and needs to survive…
“As tensions run high and fresh water runs low, Lyla realises that someone is playing this game for real - and they’ll stop at nothing to win. Ten might have arrived, but who will survive to the end?”
I thought it was going to be a thriller but it’s more a physical drama and doesn’t really connect with the blurb.
It does raise some interesting questions about survival and decisions you might make as a group etc but… I was pretty bored. Maybe not sell it as a thriller full of suspense?
The characters felt paper thin and I didn’t care who lived or died. The MC had an inner dialog, something like, “It must have been horrible to have his young beautiful niece dying”. And yes, the death of ugly young nieces are much easier to deal with. And she also gets surprised that a beautiful woman could be in an abusive relationship. Sure, this were issues that could have been addressed if the MC was vain and all about looks but realizing that survival isn’t skin deep but it doesn’t.
I wanted, “And Then There Were None” in a tropical paradise and I feel cheated. It felt uninspired, thank the Gods I didn’t pay for this books. Libraries are amazing!
Layla has a normal life but her actor boyfriend is desperate for a break and begs her to be part of a reality show. She accepts and off to tropical paradise, the first night on the island a storm hits and they are now cut off and needs to survive…
“As tensions run high and fresh water runs low, Lyla realises that someone is playing this game for real - and they’ll stop at nothing to win. Ten might have arrived, but who will survive to the end?”
I thought it was going to be a thriller but it’s more a physical drama and doesn’t really connect with the blurb.
It does raise some interesting questions about survival and decisions you might make as a group etc but… I was pretty bored. Maybe not sell it as a thriller full of suspense?
The characters felt paper thin and I didn’t care who lived or died. The MC had an inner dialog, something like, “It must have been horrible to have his young beautiful niece dying”. And yes, the death of ugly young nieces are much easier to deal with. And she also gets surprised that a beautiful woman could be in an abusive relationship. Sure, this were issues that could have been addressed if the MC was vain and all about looks but realizing that survival isn’t skin deep but it doesn’t.
I wanted, “And Then There Were None” in a tropical paradise and I feel cheated. It felt uninspired, thank the Gods I didn’t pay for this books. Libraries are amazing!
Ellie Mallory's having a bad day, she’s getting fired after being arrested at a suffragettes protest and when she accidentally comes across a mysterious map an amulet in her bosses office she decides it’s time for an adventure. But when stealing the map she’s soon found out and the villain is after her across the Atlantic…
This is like the cheesy lovechild between The Mummy and Indiana Jones. It’s not perfect but reads like an 80-90’s adventure movie and it’s kind of fun.
Didn’t really buy the love story, the MC throws a few “Why you stuck up, half witted, scruffy looking nerf herder!” his way just because. The first impression and irritation between them feels pretty forced. Both of the MCs are very cliché, we’ve seen these characters before in movies. There’s a lot of mention of how muscular the man is, male flesh etc etc and he’s often missing his shirt. Maybe tell yourself that this is an 80’s movie and you can just roll with it? If those kind of movies are not appealing to you, maybe this is not the book for you.
But I had fun and I will look for the second part in the series and see if it can keep it up for a second book. Just finished it so maybe I’m overdoing it but, eff it, 4 stars!
Ellie Mallory's having a bad day, she’s getting fired after being arrested at a suffragettes protest and when she accidentally comes across a mysterious map an amulet in her bosses office she decides it’s time for an adventure. But when stealing the map she’s soon found out and the villain is after her across the Atlantic…
This is like the cheesy lovechild between The Mummy and Indiana Jones. It’s not perfect but reads like an 80-90’s adventure movie and it’s kind of fun.
Didn’t really buy the love story, the MC throws a few “Why you stuck up, half witted, scruffy looking nerf herder!” his way just because. The first impression and irritation between them feels pretty forced. Both of the MCs are very cliché, we’ve seen these characters before in movies. There’s a lot of mention of how muscular the man is, male flesh etc etc and he’s often missing his shirt. Maybe tell yourself that this is an 80’s movie and you can just roll with it? If those kind of movies are not appealing to you, maybe this is not the book for you.
But I had fun and I will look for the second part in the series and see if it can keep it up for a second book. Just finished it so maybe I’m overdoing it but, eff it, 4 stars!
I saw the cover with the Cloud Cutter and was intrigued and booked it at my library. If it had been an other cover I might never have read this book.
Parts of the book is great, parts of the book is slow, a lot is unbelievable. It’s written in 4 parts and the first part is the best part and after that I was sort of hoping it would pick up again, a little slow build up but no, doesn’t happen.
The ease of travelling and no mention of money is unbelievable to me.
Still enjoyed it all in all and I’m happy I read it. Due to the strong first part I will give it a 4 but most of the book is around 3-3,5.
I saw the cover with the Cloud Cutter and was intrigued and booked it at my library. If it had been an other cover I might never have read this book.
Parts of the book is great, parts of the book is slow, a lot is unbelievable. It’s written in 4 parts and the first part is the best part and after that I was sort of hoping it would pick up again, a little slow build up but no, doesn’t happen.
The ease of travelling and no mention of money is unbelievable to me.
Still enjoyed it all in all and I’m happy I read it. Due to the strong first part I will give it a 4 but most of the book is around 3-3,5.
I saw the cover with the Cloud Cutter and was intrigued and booked it at my library. If it had been an other cover I might never have read this book.
Parts of the book is great, parts of the book is slow, a lot is unbelievable. It’s written in 4 parts and the first part is the best part and after that I was sort of hoping it would pick up again, a little slow build up but no, doesn’t happen.
The ease of travelling and no mention of money is unbelievable to me.
Still enjoyed it all in all and I’m happy I read it. Due to the strong first part I will give it a 4 but most of the book is around 3-3,5.
I saw the cover with the Cloud Cutter and was intrigued and booked it at my library. If it had been an other cover I might never have read this book.
Parts of the book is great, parts of the book is slow, a lot is unbelievable. It’s written in 4 parts and the first part is the best part and after that I was sort of hoping it would pick up again, a little slow build up but no, doesn’t happen.
The ease of travelling and no mention of money is unbelievable to me.
Still enjoyed it all in all and I’m happy I read it. Due to the strong first part I will give it a 4 but most of the book is around 3-3,5.
The Burgundians
I don’t feel comfortable rating this book, maybe it’s a very good book on the subject, I don’t know.
It’s not easy going and fun like some history books are so maybe not for everyone and best suited for people with a special interest?
I don’t feel comfortable rating this book, maybe it’s a very good book on the subject, I don’t know.
It’s not easy going and fun like some history books are so maybe not for everyone and best suited for people with a special interest?
The Burgundians
I don’t feel comfortable rating this book, maybe it’s a very good book on the subject, I don’t know.
It’s not easy going and fun like some history books are so maybe not for everyone and best suited for people with a special interest?
I don’t feel comfortable rating this book, maybe it’s a very good book on the subject, I don’t know.
It’s not easy going and fun like some history books are so maybe not for everyone and best suited for people with a special interest?
The murder and mystery is kind of fun but it’s a book of it’s time. You can tell by looking at people if they are foreigners, “The man is a Frenchman—I would take my oath on that—”
And then we have Captain Hastings, a man in his 30’s lusting after a child, “ I judged that she was little more than seventeen…”
The murder and mystery is kind of fun but it’s a book of it’s time. You can tell by looking at people if they are foreigners, “The man is a Frenchman—I would take my oath on that—”
And then we have Captain Hastings, a man in his 30’s lusting after a child, “ I judged that she was little more than seventeen…”
Jake Livingston is not like the other kids at St. Clair, he’s black and he sees dead people. Seeing ghost has become easier for him but one day a ghost stands out from the rest, it has bad intentions.
It was kind of funny because I picked this book a little on a whim. I wanted to do Blackoween despite half of the month being over, had seen this book mentioned and then I saw it by accident at the library so I grabbed it and liked it!
I haven’t read YA in a long time, might have to change that. It came across a lot more mature than plenty of fantasy I have started and DNF and plenty of cozy mystery.
It’s a pretty dark book and brings up suicide and school shootings. For me the spooky elements were not very spooky but the dark world view was in a way.
There were areas that could have been better, the magic was a little unclear and even the writing at times were a tad confusing but I just thought, “F it” and went with it.
SPOILER: How did he get away with murder/arson tho? After that fire wouldn’t the cashier mention the kid that came in? The kid that later cashed his car possibly not that far from the fire… and there was kerosene all over the place? No? Also wished there had been an resolution between Grady and Jake.
Jake Livingston is not like the other kids at St. Clair, he’s black and he sees dead people. Seeing ghost has become easier for him but one day a ghost stands out from the rest, it has bad intentions.
It was kind of funny because I picked this book a little on a whim. I wanted to do Blackoween despite half of the month being over, had seen this book mentioned and then I saw it by accident at the library so I grabbed it and liked it!
I haven’t read YA in a long time, might have to change that. It came across a lot more mature than plenty of fantasy I have started and DNF and plenty of cozy mystery.
It’s a pretty dark book and brings up suicide and school shootings. For me the spooky elements were not very spooky but the dark world view was in a way.
There were areas that could have been better, the magic was a little unclear and even the writing at times were a tad confusing but I just thought, “F it” and went with it.
SPOILER: How did he get away with murder/arson tho? After that fire wouldn’t the cashier mention the kid that came in? The kid that later cashed his car possibly not that far from the fire… and there was kerosene all over the place? No? Also wished there had been an resolution between Grady and Jake.
Jake Livingston is not like the other kids at St. Clair, he’s black and he sees dead people. Seeing ghost has become easier for him but one day a ghost stands out from the rest, it has bad intentions.
It was kind of funny because I picked this book a little on a whim. I wanted to do Blackoween despite half of the month being over, had seen this book mentioned and then I saw it by accident at the library so I grabbed it and liked it!
I haven’t read YA in a long time, might have to change that. It came across a lot more mature than plenty of fantasy I have started and DNF and plenty of cozy mystery.
It’s a pretty dark book and brings up suicide and school shootings. For me the spooky elements were not very spooky but the dark world view was in a way.
There were areas that could have been better, the magic was a little unclear and even the writing at times were a tad confusing but I just thought, “F it” and went with it.
SPOILER: How did he get away with murder/arson tho? After that fire wouldn’t the cashier mention the kid that came in? The kid that later cashed his car possibly not that far from the fire… and there was kerosene all over the place? No? Also wished there had been an resolution between Grady and Jake.
Jake Livingston is not like the other kids at St. Clair, he’s black and he sees dead people. Seeing ghost has become easier for him but one day a ghost stands out from the rest, it has bad intentions.
It was kind of funny because I picked this book a little on a whim. I wanted to do Blackoween despite half of the month being over, had seen this book mentioned and then I saw it by accident at the library so I grabbed it and liked it!
I haven’t read YA in a long time, might have to change that. It came across a lot more mature than plenty of fantasy I have started and DNF and plenty of cozy mystery.
It’s a pretty dark book and brings up suicide and school shootings. For me the spooky elements were not very spooky but the dark world view was in a way.
There were areas that could have been better, the magic was a little unclear and even the writing at times were a tad confusing but I just thought, “F it” and went with it.
SPOILER: How did he get away with murder/arson tho? After that fire wouldn’t the cashier mention the kid that came in? The kid that later cashed his car possibly not that far from the fire… and there was kerosene all over the place? No? Also wished there had been an resolution between Grady and Jake.
Added to listGolden Age of Detective Fictionwith 5 books.
We follow Opaline, Martha and Henry whose lives are circling around a somewhat mysterious bookshop.
This took me awhile to read, parts of Opalines story were hard for me to read and I just hoped for her to turn John Wick but that didn’t happen (there will be fanfic!!). Her story was still my favorite but there were a few things that I didn’t like, because I’m picky like that.
Martha was a bit meek, which is understandable due to her circumstances but she was confusing. I assume her age was maybe 20 but I don’t remember (age wasn’t mentioned much), and she doesn’t know you need a library card. She thinks you walk into a library, grab some books and leave.
Henry, dull, bye.
I liked the magical elements, I liked some of Opalines story but will I ever think of this book ever again? No.
TRIGGER WARNING: Forced institutionalization Not a major spoiler but you will know what happens to one of the characters.
We follow Opaline, Martha and Henry whose lives are circling around a somewhat mysterious bookshop.
This took me awhile to read, parts of Opalines story were hard for me to read and I just hoped for her to turn John Wick but that didn’t happen (there will be fanfic!!). Her story was still my favorite but there were a few things that I didn’t like, because I’m picky like that.
Martha was a bit meek, which is understandable due to her circumstances but she was confusing. I assume her age was maybe 20 but I don’t remember (age wasn’t mentioned much), and she doesn’t know you need a library card. She thinks you walk into a library, grab some books and leave.
Henry, dull, bye.
I liked the magical elements, I liked some of Opalines story but will I ever think of this book ever again? No.
TRIGGER WARNING: Forced institutionalization Not a major spoiler but you will know what happens to one of the characters.
Nine people have plans to spend the weekend at a secluded inn up in the Catskills. A snowstorm rolls in and they are more isolated than they hoped for, and on the morning one of the guests are found dead at the bottom of the stairs, but was it really an accident?
I’m a sucker for the snowed in trope.
A quick read, feels a little like fast food in book form. You finish it fast but you don’t feel full or nourished.
Story uses several POVs and feels like a story told before, doesn’t bring anything new to the table.
SPOILER: I found it so funny how they left the body at the bottom of the stairs and walked around it. Reminded me of Clue or similar movies, it was great.
Nine people have plans to spend the weekend at a secluded inn up in the Catskills. A snowstorm rolls in and they are more isolated than they hoped for, and on the morning one of the guests are found dead at the bottom of the stairs, but was it really an accident?
I’m a sucker for the snowed in trope.
A quick read, feels a little like fast food in book form. You finish it fast but you don’t feel full or nourished.
Story uses several POVs and feels like a story told before, doesn’t bring anything new to the table.
SPOILER: I found it so funny how they left the body at the bottom of the stairs and walked around it. Reminded me of Clue or similar movies, it was great.
Nine people have plans to spend the weekend at a secluded inn up in the Catskills. A snowstorm rolls in and they are more isolated than they hoped for, and on the morning one of the guests are found dead at the bottom of the stairs, but was it really an accident?
I’m a sucker for the snowed in trope.
A quick read, feels a little like fast food in book form. You finish it fast but you don’t feel full or nourished.
Story uses several POVs and feels like a story told before, doesn’t bring anything new to the table.
SPOILER: I found it so funny how they left the body at the bottom of the stairs and walked around it. Reminded me of Clue or similar movies, it was great.
Nine people have plans to spend the weekend at a secluded inn up in the Catskills. A snowstorm rolls in and they are more isolated than they hoped for, and on the morning one of the guests are found dead at the bottom of the stairs, but was it really an accident?
I’m a sucker for the snowed in trope.
A quick read, feels a little like fast food in book form. You finish it fast but you don’t feel full or nourished.
Story uses several POVs and feels like a story told before, doesn’t bring anything new to the table.
SPOILER: I found it so funny how they left the body at the bottom of the stairs and walked around it. Reminded me of Clue or similar movies, it was great.
Dee wants to get out of her dwindling career as a screenwriter and falls in love with a small inn, it’s love at first sight and her BFF (and ex husband) joins her as a partner in the business.
A former colleague from Hollywood shows up as their first guest and is soon found dead, not a great start to the new business and Dee needs to solve the case so the dead guy isn’t their one and only guest.
I liked that Dee and Jeff are friends, the idea of an ex husband not being an enemy is great. I also liked that the MC adopted the previous inn owners dog, that was sweet. Other than that it didn’t really do much for me, I wasn’t that invest in who did it, or anything. I’ll try to have a break from cozies and see if I like them more when I return.
Dee wants to get out of her dwindling career as a screenwriter and falls in love with a small inn, it’s love at first sight and her BFF (and ex husband) joins her as a partner in the business.
A former colleague from Hollywood shows up as their first guest and is soon found dead, not a great start to the new business and Dee needs to solve the case so the dead guy isn’t their one and only guest.
I liked that Dee and Jeff are friends, the idea of an ex husband not being an enemy is great. I also liked that the MC adopted the previous inn owners dog, that was sweet. Other than that it didn’t really do much for me, I wasn’t that invest in who did it, or anything. I’ll try to have a break from cozies and see if I like them more when I return.
Dee wants to get out of her dwindling career as a screenwriter and falls in love with a small inn, it’s love at first sight and her BFF (and ex husband) joins her as a partner in the business.
A former colleague from Hollywood shows up as their first guest and is soon found dead, not a great start to the new business and Dee needs to solve the case so the dead guy isn’t their one and only guest.
I liked that Dee and Jeff are friends, the idea of an ex husband not being an enemy is great. I also liked that the MC adopted the previous inn owners dog, that was sweet. Other than that it didn’t really do much for me, I wasn’t that invest in who did it, or anything. I’ll try to have a break from cozies and see if I like them more when I return.
Dee wants to get out of her dwindling career as a screenwriter and falls in love with a small inn, it’s love at first sight and her BFF (and ex husband) joins her as a partner in the business.
A former colleague from Hollywood shows up as their first guest and is soon found dead, not a great start to the new business and Dee needs to solve the case so the dead guy isn’t their one and only guest.
I liked that Dee and Jeff are friends, the idea of an ex husband not being an enemy is great. I also liked that the MC adopted the previous inn owners dog, that was sweet. Other than that it didn’t really do much for me, I wasn’t that invest in who did it, or anything. I’ll try to have a break from cozies and see if I like them more when I return.