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ClareR (5674 KP) rated Cleopatra and Frankenstein in Books
Jan 29, 2023
This book has divided opinion on Goodreads - I’m coming down on the “I enjoyed it” side. I like a book that has absolutely nothing in common with my life: the vulnerable, arty Cleo, and the quick, excessive Frank may as well be from another planet with their lifestyle, excesses and impulsive marriage.
There are a fair few vulnerable characters in this novel: Cleo, Zoe (Frank’s sister), Quentin (Cleo’s gay best friend) and Eleanor. Actually Eleanor comes late to the story, and I could have read so much more about her. She’s funny, has an interesting family and simply has a lot of interesting things to say.
I’ll just add that there’s an attempted suicide in this, and both Cleo and Frank have some pretty serious mental health issues. Whilst I think they were sensitively and well dealt with, they may be upsetting for some readers. And then there’s the Flying Squirrel incident. I’d be more than happy to never have to think about that again.
So, if you like reading about complicated relationships and self-destructive behaviour, then this will be the book for you. It’s certainly a book that I’ll remember.
There are a fair few vulnerable characters in this novel: Cleo, Zoe (Frank’s sister), Quentin (Cleo’s gay best friend) and Eleanor. Actually Eleanor comes late to the story, and I could have read so much more about her. She’s funny, has an interesting family and simply has a lot of interesting things to say.
I’ll just add that there’s an attempted suicide in this, and both Cleo and Frank have some pretty serious mental health issues. Whilst I think they were sensitively and well dealt with, they may be upsetting for some readers. And then there’s the Flying Squirrel incident. I’d be more than happy to never have to think about that again.
So, if you like reading about complicated relationships and self-destructive behaviour, then this will be the book for you. It’s certainly a book that I’ll remember.
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2165 KP) rated Owl Be Home for Christmas in Books
Dec 21, 2019
White Christmas? Check! But Will Snow and a Killer Keep Meg from Being Home for Christmas?
It’s a few days before Christmas and Meg Langslow and much of her family are at the Caerphilly Inn for Owl Fest 2019, a conference being put on by Meg’s grandfather. Unfortunately, the worst winter storm in decades has also decided to visit, trapping the attendees in the hotel and possibly keeping them from going home for Christmas. As the snow continues to fall, tempers continue to rise. Owls are not without their controversy, but Dr. Frogmore seems to be at the center of much of the arguments breaking out. No one much likes him, but for some, the problems with him go much deeper. However, when Dr. Frogmore drops dead, Meg’s father suspects that it wasn’t natural causes. Are they trapped at the inn with a killer? Can Meg figure out what is really happening before the snow ends so the conference attendees fly home?
This novel uses a classic mystery trope – everyone trapped someplace with a killer. I’m a little disappointed since it’s been used twice in a row in the series now, and the result was me beginning to feel a bit claustrophobic while I was reading. The mystery itself was solid. It’s obvious early on who the victim will be, and we learn about motives and suspects even before he drops dead. The further complications after the murder takes place kept me guessing until the end. As much as I enjoy spending time with Meg’s family, they aren’t as funny as they used to be. The new characters do provide some laughs, but there are some serious issues in the book that dampen some of the humor. All told, this is still a fun entry to the series that will please Meg’s many fans.
This novel uses a classic mystery trope – everyone trapped someplace with a killer. I’m a little disappointed since it’s been used twice in a row in the series now, and the result was me beginning to feel a bit claustrophobic while I was reading. The mystery itself was solid. It’s obvious early on who the victim will be, and we learn about motives and suspects even before he drops dead. The further complications after the murder takes place kept me guessing until the end. As much as I enjoy spending time with Meg’s family, they aren’t as funny as they used to be. The new characters do provide some laughs, but there are some serious issues in the book that dampen some of the humor. All told, this is still a fun entry to the series that will please Meg’s many fans.
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BookInspector (124 KP) rated Only Child in Books
Sep 24, 2020
Our protagonist in this book is a seven-year-old Zach, during shooting in his school, his older brother Andy got killed. This book is a story of how Zach and his parents deal with Andy’s loss. The variety of characters is pretty limited in this book, it sticks to Zach’s close family. I really liked Zach and his father Jim in this book. I think Zach is a very smart, kind and very cute boy. I liked his dad because he was the only one, who was paying attention to Zach after the tragedy. Father was trying to talk to Zach and make him open up about what he, as a child, is going through. I absolutely despised Zach’s mother. I think she is a self-centred cow, who cared only about what she feels and ignored her family for her own sake. I am not a parent, but I know one thing, I would put my child first.
As it says in the blurb, the narrative is told by Zach, and all the events are from his perspective. This book is like a seven-year-old’s diary. Zach talks a lot about what he sees around him, how he feels and how he deals with various situations. The narrative is very detailed, and even though there are some interesting nuances, there is not much happening in this book. I hoped that something groundbreaking will happen to pace up the book, but it kind of plodded along, making me pretty bored. There are some interesting topics discussed in this book, related to family and it’s issues, and the grown-ups have an insight into a child’s point of view. Which is quite interesting, and I am curious, how the author got all this information, and how she came up with this kind of writing style.
The writing style was very cute, simplified and easy to read. The setting of the book doesn’t change much and is concentrated around the family’s house. I liked that the chapters are pretty short, I didn’t want to DNF this book, so the short chapters helped to finish it. The ending rounded up the story nicely and left me satisfied with the outcome.
So, to conclude, even though it started really promising, this book wasn’t for me. It has well-developed characters, and I see where it can be heartbreaking for some people, but for me, it was too detailed and kind of draggy. If you like family drama, books about loss, and curious to find out how a child sees and deals with loss, give this book a try, and I hope you will enjoy it.
As it says in the blurb, the narrative is told by Zach, and all the events are from his perspective. This book is like a seven-year-old’s diary. Zach talks a lot about what he sees around him, how he feels and how he deals with various situations. The narrative is very detailed, and even though there are some interesting nuances, there is not much happening in this book. I hoped that something groundbreaking will happen to pace up the book, but it kind of plodded along, making me pretty bored. There are some interesting topics discussed in this book, related to family and it’s issues, and the grown-ups have an insight into a child’s point of view. Which is quite interesting, and I am curious, how the author got all this information, and how she came up with this kind of writing style.
The writing style was very cute, simplified and easy to read. The setting of the book doesn’t change much and is concentrated around the family’s house. I liked that the chapters are pretty short, I didn’t want to DNF this book, so the short chapters helped to finish it. The ending rounded up the story nicely and left me satisfied with the outcome.
So, to conclude, even though it started really promising, this book wasn’t for me. It has well-developed characters, and I see where it can be heartbreaking for some people, but for me, it was too detailed and kind of draggy. If you like family drama, books about loss, and curious to find out how a child sees and deals with loss, give this book a try, and I hope you will enjoy it.
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