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The Book Club
The Book Club
C.J. Cooper | 2019 | Reference
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A really good book that kept me guessing throughout.
The story follows Lucy who has moved to a cottage in the Cotswolds after an affair with her boss. She moved for a fresh start and has found her feet with a group of friends who all seem relatively close. That is until a newcomer, Alice, moves in next door to Lucy and turns her world upside down. Lucy always knows there’s something she doesn’t trust about Alice, but she can’t seem to quite put her finger on it. Alice finds out secrets about everyone in the friendship group and, after suggesting a book club for them all, manages to suggest or manipulate other people into suggesting books similar to each of the secrets they have hidden from each other.

Alice is out for revenge, and it took me until the last few chapters, just before it was revealed, to work out what exactly she wanted revenge for.

I found the book quite confusing at times, one chapter was from Lucy’s point of view and then the next was always focused on other character or multiple character’s but always in the third person. Because of this, sometimes I had to reread paragraphs because I was confused who it was about. But once I got used to this style, I really did enjoy the book.

Each of the character’s secrets were interesting, and it was easy to see that they didn’t trust their friends completely as they mostly dealt with the secrets they were keeping by themselves. It was also interesting to see just how easy the odd comment from an outsider caused a rift in the friendships and it made me wonder were they really that close in the first place?

This book really did live up the the hype for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns that were present throughout. I’m looking forward to reading C.J. Cooper’s next book!
  
Purgatory Road
Purgatory Road
Samuel Parker | 2020 | Thriller
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
From the first pages I had creeps running down my spine. This story is a nerve - racking, blood – curdling, fearsome piece of art. It started like every second horror movie, couple’s car broke in the middle of nowhere and they need to survive but eventually they will meet someone who wants to kill them. Heard that before, right? But this novel is something different. There is something else lurking around, where it is very hard to explain what it is, and author kept it for your own imagination till the very last page. Was it real or was it just a fruit of imagination, I honestly don’t know. The plot of this book is really disturbing and filled with lots of violence and disturbed characters so if u have weak nerves and fear of violence save yourself from nightmares. I know I had few even though I like these kind of books.

I really enjoyed what author did with the characters, they are very mysterious and all of them have their own secrets which author helps to untangle slowly, torturing with every chapter. There are amazing insights of couple’s relationship problems and hidden feelings towards each other and helps discover their own most secret realisations which they tried to suppress for some time. Characters manipulate with these feelings magnificently. The book is really fast paced and these chapters are so short, that it grips you so bad that all I could think was “OK, just one more…” and I couldn’t put it down. It is really easy to read this book, because the language used is not difficult so it just flies through. There are a lot of things going on in the book with a lot of turns and twists which made it even more interesting and gripping. The ending was really enjoyable as well not like the ones you see in horror movies. To conclude, I would strongly recommend this book to all out there who got strong nerves and would like some spine – chilling story to read.
  
Twice Magic (The Wizards of Once #2)
Twice Magic (The Wizards of Once #2)
Cressida Cowell | 2018 | Children, Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
So, Xar and Wish meet once again after running away from the places they been kept in. Their goal is to kill the witches, and after Wish finds a magical potion, they set out on another adventure to find the missing ingredients. The story is once again told by “Unknown Narrator”, and I still have no idea who that is. 😀 The characters remain more or less the same, but there are some new characters introduced to this story, who play quite vital parts.

I have very mixed feelings about the narrative of this book. I did like the adventure part, but rest of the things seemed very stretched out and it had too much detail going on. The author created quite interesting surprises in the plot, incorporating some romance into the story. This part can easily be read without reading the first book, as the author explained most of the things, which might seem a little confusing to a new reader.

The writing style remains as in the first book, it feels raw, just like the way you would be telling the story, and explaining bits and pieces along the way. Which feels unique, but at the same time, makes the chapters longer and more detailed. The illustrations once again are absolutely stunning, and I enjoyed the texture, which they give to every chapter and overall reading experience. I liked that the setting of this novel keeps changing as the characters travel, it gave a more adventurous feeling to me. The ending was quite dragged for my liking and I think that there are way more books to come in this series, so, if you are a fan of these characters, it is good news to you. 🙂

To conclude, it is a fun read with same characters, (who can be quite a negative influence sometimes to a young reader) but new, romantic and adventurous findings, and if you liked the first part, you might enjoy this one as well.
  
X-Men: Second Coming
X-Men: Second Coming
Craig Kyle | 2010
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This was a re-read for me, as I remember reading the actual issues when when came out in 2011. I can recall liking it overall. After this return to it, I have to rephrase my opinion.

The story is about Hope Summers, but it is also about Cable, and it is about sacrifice. It is also about taking responsibility for our actions, and the consequences of those actions. And, it is about the end of Christoper Yost's and Craig Kyle's X-Force run.

There was some top writers assigned to this x-over, but it just felt inconsistent. I love Matt Fraction's HAWKEYE run (still one of my favorite Marvel series runs EVER), but here, it just was missing something, like when someone gives you a recipe, you try re-creating it, and the end result is as far from the recipe as the tool in the White House posing as the President! Even Yost and Kyle, who I have a great deal of regard, felt like they were glad to be done and having nothing more to offering.

Then there is the art. There was really great pages in the beginning. The art by David Finch (he was the only reason I gave this book three Stars) in the first chapter is brilliant and totally suits the theme(s) of the story. However, after his issue, everything goes from derpy (re: Greg Land, "Mr. Lighbox" himself) to just not-as-good-as-I-remember (re: Terry Dodson). And don't even get me started on the inconsistency of which costume Wolverine would be wearing in the issues he would be appearing!

I thought that NECROSHA was as bad as it could get, but this one definitely took care of that bad taste!

Instead of reading SECOND COMING, there are slew of older X-books out there, with better art, better stories, and better direction. Save your money!