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Nil's Labyrinth

Games, Entertainment and Stickers

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App

Help Nil the cat on a journey through the mysterious labyrinth of his mind. Nil's Labyrinth is a...

One More Year

Simon Hanselmann

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Simon Hanselmann’s previous two Megg & Mogg books — 2014’s Megahex and 2016’s Megg and Mogg...

Comics

Claws for Alarm

Cate Conte

8.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

As Maddie James and her family and friends get ready for their first full tourist season with JJ’s...

Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Sweet Little Lies in Books

Mar 18, 2019

Sweet Little Lies

Caz Frear | 2017 | Crime, Fiction & Poetry

8.3

(4 Ratings)

Book Rating

Perplexing, well-written tale

Young Detective Constable Catrina (Cat) Kinsella hasn't had the easiest of lives--she didn't get along well with her father and her mother has since passed away. At twenty-six, Cat is in counseling after a traumatic incident while on the job, and she spends most of her nights alone, plagued by insomnia. She isn't close to her family, including her father, sister, or brother. Her latest case is that of thirty-five-year old Alice Lapaine, who is found murdered and dumped in Leamington Square. Alice too led a solitary life, spending weeks away from her husband, Thomas, who quickly becomes the team's top suspect. But then they receive a call--Alice isn't Alice, but rather Maryanne Doyle, a teenager who went missing in Ireland nearly twenty years ago. Suddenly, Cat's world is upside down. After all, she knew Maryanne, whom her family met while visiting Cat's grandmother when Cat was eight. And Cat has always suspected her father had something to do with Maryanne's sudden disappearance. Cat chooses not to tell her DCI about the linkages between Maryanne and her father, but this choice may have serious consequences: for Cat, her career, and her entire family.

"I feel it's necessary to make clear that I know nothing about what happened to Maryanne Doyle, the girl who went to Riley's for hairspray and never came back. I have my suspicions, of course. I speculate plenty, especially after white wine. But when it comes right down to it, I actually know nothing. The same cannot be said of my father."

This was an interesting, complicated tale. The mystery aspect of it was actually really fascinating, with the linkages slowly building between Alice and Maryanne, as we try to figure out what happened between Maryanne disappearing as a teen, her becoming Alice and then winding up murdered. Overall, I really enjoyed that part of the book. Frear has a lot of good surprises for us, and I was kept guessing for most of the novel.

The personal side of the book was a little harder for me. Don't get me wrong, I did like Cat. She certainly is a complicated character. I have to admit that characters that don't tell the truth or narratives that revolve around this aspect of keeping the truth hidden can be a bit of a pet peeve of mine. So basically an entire book that involves the main character keeping such a big secret (my Dad knew my murder victim, who was found a few paces outside the pub he owns)--that was tough for me. The more involved Cat gets in her case and the more entwined the case becomes with her own life and past: ugh. It all felt a little wrong and icky for me.

Honestly, I probably would have enjoyed this book more if the personal ties to Cat weren't there, or weren't so strong. I recognize they existed to give her depth and add more to the story and case, but they just made me uncomfortable and almost added an extra layer to the mystery that I felt wasn't necessary. Things were already twisty enough, it seemed as we didn't need this whole additional convoluted element with Cat's family. But maybe that's just me and my aversion to lying and such. (I don't even like when this happens in movies and eventually you know it's all going to come out and bad things will happen.)

This is not a simple book, and the story told is a perplexing and sophisticated one: you really have to be ready to follow along. On the plus side, it's original, and the characters are rather unique. I'm intrigued that it looks like Cat will be part of a series. I did like this book, even if some elements were a little harder for me to enjoy, and it was well-written. I'd certainly pick up the next book in a series and perhaps if her family wasn't so entwined in her case, enjoy it even more.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher and Edelweiss in return for an unbiased review (thank you!).

Kudos

Cumberland (1142 KP) rated Captain Marvel (2019) in Movies

Mar 23, 2019

Captain Marvel (2019)

2019 | Action, Adventure

7.7

(166 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

The Cat (0 more)

Great Addition To The MCU

I really enjoyed that this movie took place earlier in the MCU timeline. It was fun to see a younger version of characters that were already established in the other films. I'm looking forward to seeing Captain Marvel in Endgame. I think shes going to make a great addition to the team.

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Obsessed book reviews (49 KP) rated Midnight Heat (Midnight Cowboys, #3) in Books

May 7, 2019

what a fab read, i just couldnt put it down. this is the first book in the series that ive read and wow ill defiantly be reading the rest. fantastic characters and story which will keep you reading long into the night. defiantly cant wait to read more.

highly recommended
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Irene M (130 KP) rated Drawing Cute with Katie Cook: 200+ Lessons for Drawing Super Adorable Stuff in Books

Dec 7, 2018

This book is PACKED full of step by step guides to drawing sooooo many cute things.

Great for kids old or young, with simple step by step pictures and easy to understand word descriptions, breaking down the steps needed to make a "bean" into a fox ... or a cat ... or a spider.

Definitely recommend for budding artists.