Tash
Interesting concept, and I liked the author's writing style. Some characters were mentioned briefly then abandoned which was a shame (Erin and Luke) and I didn't feel too much towards the m in characters really, but generally enjoyed the idea of Cinderella laws and her reworking of a fairytale. I will read The Poison Heart at some point!
Really enjoyed the writing in this book, and the story did keep me guessing. The torture scenes were sometimes a little too explicit, and it did all feel a little dated in moments, but it was very fast-paced and great to read a UK-based crime novel set at that time! Looking forward to the next book in the series.
This book confirmed that I love Emily Henry and I think this is my favourite of hers! It is always fun to read stuff with characters in publishing as I can absolutely relate, and these main ones were very funny (I properly laughed out loud at some bits) and I cared about them both. I raced through it as it was very well-written.
Good fast-paced action in this thriller, and I was kept guessing who it was until all was revealed - I had it narrowed down to two! Characters all had individual personalities (some stereotypes but that didn't detract from them) and the narrator was excellent at the voices. I had enjoyed The Sanatorium and was surprised by a sequel/series but I'm glad that this one was different enough from the first and allowed more of a story/background to be developed for Elin and Will. I will definitely look out for more by Sarah Pearse, and more narrated by Gemma Whelan too.
Powerful account of the Holocaust. It doesn't describe the trauma he went through in heavy/great detail, but Night hit me with the day-to-day horrors that Elie endured and his thoughts about them while in the camps, as well as each short moment when something else was taken from him and his life was changed again.
Bizarre, but quite disturbing/thought-provoking. Wasn't sure at all where this was going to go until the last third or so... Will stay with me a while though, as I have questions and want to know more! And will be absolutely looking to buy a full survival kit now.
Knocked off a bit of a star for the odd start, some bits of ott flowery language and slightly frustrating ending.
A well-written mystery! Had my suspicions but enjoyed the ride of finding out who it was at the end, as the characters all felt like they had real personalities and remained separated in my mind (even though there were quite a few to keep track of!). 1/2 star off as one side story seemed a little unnecessary as it wasn't quite fleshed out enough for me - perhaps it will be in the next books. It was nice to read about Devon and the narrator did a good job with accents without them seeming too ridiculous (to my ears, at least!). I'll carry on with this series, and might try out some of her other series now too.
Enjoyable to dip in and out of, and to get some insights into well-known authors' reading/writing inspiration. Very nice to read some talking about my favourite books, and I picked up some very good-sounding suggestions from authors I like/have read as well as some I hadn't! A book about reading is always a comfort and it helps that this book has a lovely cover and format (ribbon!) too.
A slow start for me (with two false starts!) but I really enjoyed it by the end, which came as a bit of a surprise. The second half really picked up a lot of speed and I whizzed through it. I found the story very interesting as I didn't know the original before reading this, and liked Montgomery and Lupe the most of the characters, though I think they generally didn't have enough time to be developed too deeply - it didn't detract from my wanting to keep reading it though!
I've had Mexican Gothic on my TBR for a long time now, and I like her writing style after this book so I'll get to that one soonish.
Odd but enjoyable, and I found it got going (and made sense...) about 2/3 of the way through, though spooky/eerie forest descriptions were great all the way through and I liked the witchy undertones throughout. Not sure what I expected as picked it predominantly based on the spine/title/small physical format, but found this quite a strange fairy tale, and didn't really want it to end!
Amazing! Gripping all the way through. Really good characters with realistic personalities (feels like a rarity in the books I've read recently), beautifully described forest (if slightly scary), and a good mystery storyline to follow.
Was looking forward to this sequel after Before She Disappeared and it definitely didn't disappoint; I think it was better than the first! That said, I really enjoyed both (both 5*) and hope that there'll be a third Frankie Elkin novel soon.
