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Deborah (162 KP) rated The Wife Trap (The Trap Trilogy, #2) in Books

Dec 21, 2018

Oh dear. Not the greatest example of the genre I have ever read it has to be said. The Wife Trap is the middle book of a trilogy by this author; the first books seems to have dealt with the courtship of the twin sister of the 'heroine' of this novel, seemingly involving deception and machinations. You could read this book without having read the first one, but of course you don't know exactly what has gone on beforehand and why exactly Jeanette has been banished to stay with cousins in Ireland.

The hero of this book was called Darragh O'Brien. My problem with that was that I got an image of Darra O'Brien (chap who presents Mock The Week etc.) in my head, and I'm guessing that wasn't quite what the author had in mind! Obviously the character wasn't strongly enough written to dislodge said, disconcerting, image!

That though is a minor quibble when compared to my big issue with this book; the so-called heroine. Jeanette is shallow, vain, silly, selfish, self-centred, childish and utterly unlikeable! I can't for the life of me understand what the hero sees in her, except that she is apparently beautiful and quite good at painting... She seems to think she 'deserves' anything she happens to fancy and is willing to stamp her foot and pout until she gets her way. She thinks it quite reasonable to disrupt everyone else so she can have a lie-in (after refusing to abandon her 'town hours' and go to bed earlier!) If it were me, I would have left her stuck in the carriage in the mud in the first chapter and rescued the servants from her!

Kudos

James Koppert (2698 KP) rated Arctic Zoo in Books

Oct 28, 2019

Arctic Zoo

Robert Muchamore | 2019 | Contemporary, Crime, LGBTQ+, Thriller, Young Adult (YA)

8.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Political without ever preaching (0 more)

Been mostly ignored (0 more)

Challenging the world

Even with a good book, 456 pages can start to drag. With Arctic Zoo however, I wanted to continue on Julius and Georgia's story. This is brilliantly paced read with a "one more chapter before bed" level of intrigue on every page to keep you up far too late every night. The story follows Georgia, and relatively unextrordinary English schoolgirl who has lost her sister who becomes the face of the protest counter culture community, and celebrity, completely by accident, who with no choice, is drawn further into that world, and Julius, the son of very rich Nigerian political elite, who is guy and ousted from the family. Both these teenagers stories interweave intermittently and both are engaging on their own. The thing is I really liked Julius and I really liked Georgia and I wanted so much for each of them to succeed despite all the things thrown against them. Whats also brilliant s this book has a lot to say without it ever forcing anything down your throat and doesn't shy away from throwing up hypocrisies either. Muchamore is an absolute master writer who has managed to create an engaging novel that any adult or teenager will enjoy without ever feeling like the pages have been dumbed down to reach a general audience. Yes it was 456 pages long at at the end I said, "ohh, its finished" feeling disappointed rather than the sense of achievement I normally get when completing a book, just because I wanted to stay with these characters in this book and be with them for more of their journeys. But that is what a great artist does, leaves them wanting more, Muchamore.