Tag: Book Review

Book Review – The Bat by Jo Nesbo

Posted in Book ReviewTagged , , , , Leave a comment

Hey Everyone,

I have been reading like mad, I have been having quite a lot of days off from work and have decided to take the opportunity to use that time and read, read as many books as I can. This is one of the books that I read last week on my couple days off.

30630811

The Bat by Jo Nesbo

Detective Harry Hole is meant to keep out of trouble. A young Norwegian girl on a gap year in Sydney has been murdered, and Harry has been sent to Australia to assist in any way he can.

When the team unearths a string of unsolved murders and disappearances, nothing will stop Harry from finding out the truth. The hunt for a serial killer is on, but the murderer will only talk to Harry.

Published: 1997
Published Edition: January 2017 (2oth Anniversary)
Publishers: Vintage
Genre: Mystery, Crime, Thriller
Pages: 425

Format of Reading: Paperback

Goodreads Star Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

Review

I haven’t heard much about this book but I had already known that it was the first book that introduced Harry Hole. Harry goes to Australia to assist with the police with a homicide of a young Norwegian girl. Now this book does give the acknowledgement to the character of Harry Hole (Hole is actually pronounced as ‘hoo-leh’, which I didn’t know until now), he drinks (a lot), smokes all the time and gets investive in the case.

For an overall review, the book is quite good. It’s not great but it gives a base coat of what Nesbo has created for the series. I found that some parts of the book were unnecessary, around the beginning of the book Harry meets a lot of characters and through them he hears a lot of stories, stories I think that drift the focus away from the crime, there are times in the book where some characters ask Harry how the investigation is going and I am reading it almost yelling at the book saying “I don’t know, for the last couple of chapters he has been listening to stories and sleeping with a Swedish barmaid!” Ok, I admit it, it did get frustrating with me and at times I wanted to put the book down.

If I had started the series from this book, I probably wouldn’t continue on. I don’t exactly have much to say about this book, I do have Cockroaches which is the second book in the series but I honestly don’t know if I will get to it any time soon.

Have you read the book? Or Have you picked up any of the books in the series? What do you think?

NetGalley Reviews (4 Books)

Posted in Book ReviewTagged , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Hey Everyone,

So this is a combination of all the book that I have received from NetGalley today, I don’t usually do this but I thought it would be much easier to combine the books that I got on NetGalley than review them individually, just in case I miss a book or didn’t want to do an individual review.

36040949

The Patriot Bride by Kimberly Woodhouse

Published: 1st August 2018
Publishers: Barbour Books
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance

Format of Reading: Kindle

Goodreads Star Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

I received the book at the same time as The Captured Bride while I found the book to be really good, I did find myself not connecting to this book than the previous one.

While I found myself really liking Faith and Matthew’s relationship, I was more interested in the setting of the book. After reading it, it was set before 4th July Independence Day and I was very much interested in that. Honestly, I felt that the relationship between Faith and Matthew felt a little pushed but also it was just a bit predictable.

40239061

A Duke of Seduction by Darcy Burke

Published: 21st August 2018
Publishers: Darcy Burke Publishing
Genre: Historical Romance

Format of Reading: Kindle

Goodreads Star Rating:🌟🌟🌟🌟

I have never tried Historical Romance before I never found an interest in it until this book. Lavinia is someone who is more interested in rocks and spending time outside, while her family want her to think about marriage and finding a husband. William Beckett or Beck as he likes to be called is a secret poet, he calls himself the Duke of Seduction. He writes poems of eligible woman who he believes needs more assistance in the Marriage Mart. He writes a poem about Lavinia but Lavinia doesn’t appreciate it, but even though he writes a poem for her, he develops feelings for her.

I found the book to be very fun to read, I enjoyed the moments between Lavinia and Beck but I also liked how the history of how Beck decided to write poems for women. It’s something I think you need to read and find out because it’s seen throughout the book and I don’t want to spoil it. I got myself very attached to this book. I am considering reading the rest of the series since I really enjoyed this book.

40882313

Lighting Fire by Leslie North

Published: 26th August 2018
Publishers: Relay Publishing
Genre: General Fiction (Adult), Romance

Format of Reading: Kindle

Goodreads Star Rating:🌟🌟🌟

What is not to love? Fire and hot Fireman. This book follows Chase, Fireman from Alaska, he agrees to volunteers to help with the forest fires in California. He is known to be a ladies charmer but is even more charmed to be with the Chief’s sister, Sookie who works for the National Guard. Sookie and her brother Hank have a lot of issues, issues that don’t reveal much in this book, maybe in Hank’s book when it’s set to release. I felt a little bit disappointing to not know what happened between the two but I enjoyed the relationship between Sookie and Chase. I honestly think that they got together really quickly but skipped getting to know one another and went straight to the sex.

40507334

Lord of Vice by Erica Ridley

Published: September 8th 2018
Publishers: WebMotion
Genre: Historical Romance

Format of Reading: Kindle

Goodreads Star Rating:🌟🌟🌟🌟

This book is set to come out next week but I wanted to give it a review because I really enjoyed it.

This book follows Vice Merchant Maxwell Gideon, he co-owns a building called The Cloven Hoof which is a gambling room. He wants to buy out his silent partner but discovers that he is a she, Bryony Grenville is one of the youngest and is eligible to marry. Her mother has sent high standards and Bryony is more focused on what Maxwell Gideon is like.

This was a really enjoyable book to read, I loved Maxwell and Bryony’s relationship. I liked their conversation and their attraction to one another. Their relationship grows even more when they connect over music, sewing and maths. Bryony wants someone to accept the skills of being a mathematician and not be considered as one of the women who only think about their status and money.

That is all the book from NetGalley that I have received from them so far. I hope you enjoyed it and have given a go of reading the books. It might become a regular thing but we shall see… Xx

Book Review – Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

Posted in Book ReviewTagged , , , , 2 Comments

Hey Everyone,

Sorry that I have been MIA, I’ve been a little preoccupied with other things in life and I wanted to focus on that. I know that I have missed a couple of Top Ten Tuesdays but honestly, I haven’t been in the mood to do them so I might leave it until next month and see how I feel about it. I have been reading (hence the fact that I am uploading a book review) but you can follow me on my Goodreads account if you want to see any updates from me I am gladly ok for you to follow along.

34503674

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

Mia Corvere is only ten years old when she is given her first lesson in death.

Destined to destroy empires, the child raised in shadows made a promise on the day she lost everything: to avenge herself on those that shattered her world.

But the chance to strike against such powerful enemies will be fleeting, and Mia must become a weapon without equal. Before she seeks vengeance, she must seek training among the infamous assassins of the Red Church of Iltreya.

Inside the Church’s halls, Mis must prove herself against the deadliest of opponents and survive the tutelage of murderers, liars and demons at the heart of a murder cult.

The Church is no ordinary school, but Mia is no ordinary student.

Published: August 2016
Published Edition: June 2017
Publishers: Harper Collins
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Pages: 463

Format of Reading: Paperback/Hardback

Goodreads Star Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Review

Honestly, this book has been the year in the making. I was immediately attracted to the cover which was illustrated by Kerby Rosanne. He is amazing, I have one of his published colouring books and it was his style of art which drew me to Nevernight.

Initially, I thought the book would be like Throne of Glass but it was more than that. It starts off with Mia who is a teenage girl but is filled with anger and hate towards the man that destroyed her family, turned her into an orphan and her sole desire to kill him. But she wants to learn how to kill him. Mia is smart and witty but she also has her weaknesses, I enjoy scenes with Mia and her shadow familiar Mister Kindly the dynamic reminds me of Kiki and Jiji from Kiki’s Delivery Service minus the witches and broomsticks, and add poison, death and sex.

The writing was a little hard to get into when I first started reading the book, I wasn’t too keen on the additional information of the world which ended up me DNFing last year but I was able to get past it this time and enjoyed the book. I am still quite surprised that this book was categorized on Goodreads as Young Adult which I think it’s not. To me, it’s quite explicit when it comes to the graphic sense of death.

I am looking forward to Godsgrave, I interested in learning a lot more about Mia and the reason why she is the only one to have a shadow familiar. I hope that with whatever happened at the end of Nevernight, that there would be more depth and more vengeance for Mia. I am very intrigued by how the series continues.

I hope you are having a lovely day

xx

 

Book Review – The Captured Bride by Michelle Griep (Daughters of the Mayflower #3)

Posted in Book ReviewTagged , , , Leave a comment

Hey Everyone,

So it’s been a while since my last Book Review, mostly it is because I have been a little bit distracted with other things and I have been slowly reading. I have also started to get back into getting books from NetGalley which I highly recommended for anyone who wants to get books before the published date. (Not a Sponsor but I do recommend it) I got this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

38931823

The Captured Bride by Michelle Griep

A War-Torn Countryside is No Place for a Lady.

Mercy Lytton is a lady like no other. Raised amongst the Mohawks, she straddles two cultures, yet each are united in one cause…to defeat the French. Born with a rare gift of unusually keen eyesight, she is chosen as a scout to accompany a team of men on a dangerous mission. Yet it is not her life that is threatened. It is her heart. Condemned as a traitor, Elias Dubois face the gallows. At the last minute, he is offered his freedom if he consents to accompany a stolen shipment of French gold to a nearby fort – but he is the one they stole it from in the first place. It turns out that the real thief is the beguiling woman, Mercy Lytton, for she steals his every waking thought. Can love survive divided loyalties in a backcountry wilderness?

Published: June 1st 2018
Publishers: Barbour Books
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance
Pages: 256

Format of Reading: Kindle

Goodreads Star Rating:🌟🌟🌟🌟

Review

The book was a very enjoyable read, I have been getting into reading Historical Fiction and coming from someone who lives in the UK, this book is set between the French and Indian War (1760), I found this to be very interesting. I liked the setting of the book, I kept imagining something of a Wild Wild West when the sun is high and Native American’s are in their full beauty. I liked Mercy, she is of two worlds, the world in which she is half Mohawk and half White. She struggles to choose between her Father’s beliefs and her Mothers but in the book, she soon starts to learn and understand more about the belief in God.

I have to admit she is a big feminist, throughout the book she clashes with the men who keep pushing her to side while she is stubbornly determined to do the things that she knows best. Which is why I really enjoyed the relationship between Mercy and Elias, while Mercy doesn’t like the man at first she later discovers how much of a respected man he is, he knows of her skills and her beliefs, and he doesn’t push her to do things she doesn’t want to do. He may be a traitor but he is a decent honest man.

It surprised me that one of the themes of this book was about Christianity, Mercy’s mother is a Christian and had tried to introduce the belief to Mercy but Mercy being a Mohawk, she often followed her Father’s belief’s. But once she meets Elias and Liv, they both believe in God and Mercy tries to understand why and even if she is able to believe in it.

I didn’t expect much from this book I basically went into this book blind and I really enjoyed it. The book has already been released but the next book in the series has already been released so you can expect another review as I have been approved to review the next one. Which is interesting because the series is written by different authors.

I hope you get a chance to pick up any of the books in the series and stay cool on this heatwave. xx

Book Review | The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn #2)

Posted in Book ReviewTagged , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Hey Everyone,

How are you?

6547260

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

Evil has been defeated…The War has just begun.

THEY DID THE IMPOSSIBLE, deposing the godlike being whose brutal rule had lasted a thousand years. Now Vin, the street urchin who has grown into the most powerful Mistborn in the land, and Elend Venture, the idealistic young nobleman who loves her, must build a healthy new society in the ashes of the empire.

They have barely begun when there separate armies attack. As the siege rightness, an ancient legend seems to offer a glimmer of hope. But even is it really exists, no one knows where to find the Well of Ascension, or what manner of power it bestows.

IT MAY BE THAT KILLING THE LORD RULER WAS THE EASY PART…

Published: August 2007
Published Editions: December 2009
Publishers: Gollancz
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction
Pages: 781

Format of Reading: Paperback

Goodreads Star Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Review

I read the first book in the series two years ago. I’ll try not to spoil as much of the second book but give you an idea of what the series is like.

The book follows a group of Allomancers, they are people who infuse themselves with metals. Each metal has a different effect on the Allomancers but they are only able to use one metal. But there is also the Mistborn, a Mistborn is someone who has a unique ability to use multiple metals at the same time.

Vin is a street urchin working under a vicious man, one day she is approached by a man called Kelsier, he can see how much of a talented girl she is and takes her in. Vin discovers that she is a Mistborn but also Kelsier is also one as well. Kelsier, or Kell, teaches her how to use her abilities while also making a plan to kill the Lord Ruler. The Lord Ruler has been on the land for a thousand years and Kell want to kill him, nobody knows how this man became to be who he is but he is not a good person.

This book continues on a year after the first book. A mist clouds the city during the night and Vin is very cautious. As much as I loved the book, I felt the relationship issues between Elend and Vin to be very cliche and ridiculous at times. I found Elend to be a bit annoying, mostly because of the role that he plays in the second book. I had hoped that he would already be well adjusted to it but it was disappointing to know that there was a very little effect from the end of Book 1.

I grew to enjoy the history of the Lord Ruler and the mystery of the Mist, I really enjoyed Oreseur a character that I had forgotten about in the first book but I was very intrigued by him in this one and I very much liked the bond that he had with Vin. Another character who stood out for me was Zane, from the very first introduction of the character I was very intrigued.

While I found the book to be quite political, it was something I wasn’t too keen on. I felt the other characters like Ham, Clubs and Breeze appearance to be very little in this book and I wanted to see more of the dynamic friendship that made me intrigue with them in the first book. I mostly enjoyed the Vin’s progression in this book, while she may be someone who prefers to be alone I liked how she was able to open herself a lot more and accept that she is a Mistborn and an icon to the people of Luthandel.

What did you think of the book? Let me know. XX