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The Whispering Muse
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Be careful what you wish for... it may just come true. At The Mercury Theatre in London's West...
Naomi Forrest (42 KP) rated What Lexie Did in Books
Jan 9, 2019
This book was a Christmas book from a friend and I thought it looked quite cute. The first couple of pages were really easy to fall in to and after that, the pace is just perfect.
I know little bits about Greek culture but this book really sucked me in to that way of life and made me a bit jealous! To have such a strong sense of family and heritage must be a truly amazing thing. I like that the relationship between Lexie and Eleni goes one step further and there is even deeper bond that seems both unbreakable and yet incredibly fragile at times. I'm not giving any spoilers but the beginning and ending tie together beautifully and though the ending isn't completely happy, it was satisfying.
Shevah infuses humour throughout the novel, leaning on a truly authentic 9 year old voice and Lexie's perceptions of her family, God and halloumi. The pages were so sweet as well, with doodles around the outside as if it was Lexie's diary we are reading.
On the face of it, this novel is funny and sweet and full of friendship and family yet it digs deeper. The story centres around honesty. Lexie 'snitches' on a new friend and is reprimanded by the adults, who preach telling the truth, and upsets her friends and siblings. When she doesn't tell on a different friend for something else, she is also punished. She is expected to tell the truth by the adults and told to lie by Eleni but when she does lie, it upsets Eleni and has huge consequences. I thought Shevah exploited the notions of deception and truth cleverly through Lexie, who reflects on adults preaching the importance of honesty while lying about things to, if we are quite truthful, manipulate children. It highlighted that the answer is not as black and white as we want it to be and I enjoyed having my perceptions challenged.
All in all, I found this to be a vibrant, contemporary and culturally novel that shows Shevah has researched and engaged with Greek-Cypriot family life to an extremely high standard. Novels such as this are the reason I love Chicken House and the books they publish; their novels and authors are original, cutting edge and excite and engage children. I can't wait to read more of Shevah's work in future and get my year 6's fired up about this.
All in all, I found this to be a vibrant, contemporary and culturally novel that shows Shevah has researched and engaged with Greek-Cypriot family life to an extremely high standard. Novels such as this are the reason I love Chicken House and the books they publish; their novels and authors are original, cutting edge and excite and engage children. I can't wait to read more of Shevah's work in future and get my year 6's fired up about this.
Debbiereadsbook (1487 KP) rated The Seer (The Secret Tales #3) in Books
Jul 24, 2025
Theo was very much attracted first to Claire's mind but he soon became besotted with her!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.
This is book 3 in the Secret Tales series, but it can be read as a stand alone. The couple from the first two books do take part here, but you don't need to have read their stories to follow this one. I did, however, LOVE those first two books, so as a personal recommendation, read them.
But this one?? I don't know what it is about this one, but I couldn/t love it, and it did take some reading. I might be able to wiggle it out my book brain as I type, but we shall see.
Claire has a theory about the white on the Greek marbles and statues: they are not meant to be white. But as a woman, no one will listen. Theseus finds Claire's mind attractive but he is well aware of the constraints on women of his time. A trip to Greece is just what they both need: Claire to prove her theory and Theseus to return some Greek marbles to their rightful home. But someone is out to stop him, and it might just get them both killed.
I liked that this faded to black and it was a very slow burn. Theo was very much attracted first to Claire's mind but he soon became besotted with her. Especially after she befriended his sister and managed to shoot some bandits! But apart from some kissing, he waits until they are married to do anything else, and I did like that.
I did like the twist with the bad guy! I did not see that one coming at me.
Theo's sister, Penny plays a part here. She does get a say too, but I think I would have liked Spyros as well as Penny, given as to what happens to them.
There are many descriptions about the Greek statues and the history of them. I found these a bit too much, to be honest and I struggled to follow them all. I think *THIS* might be why I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first two.
I did like that we caught up with Lottie and Patrick, and Rosie and Rhys. They are all blissfully happy and their families are growing.
What I did LOVE though, was the epilogue!
4 very VERY good stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
This is book 3 in the Secret Tales series, but it can be read as a stand alone. The couple from the first two books do take part here, but you don't need to have read their stories to follow this one. I did, however, LOVE those first two books, so as a personal recommendation, read them.
But this one?? I don't know what it is about this one, but I couldn/t love it, and it did take some reading. I might be able to wiggle it out my book brain as I type, but we shall see.
Claire has a theory about the white on the Greek marbles and statues: they are not meant to be white. But as a woman, no one will listen. Theseus finds Claire's mind attractive but he is well aware of the constraints on women of his time. A trip to Greece is just what they both need: Claire to prove her theory and Theseus to return some Greek marbles to their rightful home. But someone is out to stop him, and it might just get them both killed.
I liked that this faded to black and it was a very slow burn. Theo was very much attracted first to Claire's mind but he soon became besotted with her. Especially after she befriended his sister and managed to shoot some bandits! But apart from some kissing, he waits until they are married to do anything else, and I did like that.
I did like the twist with the bad guy! I did not see that one coming at me.
Theo's sister, Penny plays a part here. She does get a say too, but I think I would have liked Spyros as well as Penny, given as to what happens to them.
There are many descriptions about the Greek statues and the history of them. I found these a bit too much, to be honest and I struggled to follow them all. I think *THIS* might be why I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first two.
I did like that we caught up with Lottie and Patrick, and Rosie and Rhys. They are all blissfully happy and their families are growing.
What I did LOVE though, was the epilogue!
4 very VERY good stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
ClareR (5950 KP) rated Heroes (Stephen Fry’s Great Mythology Volume 2 in Books
Oct 24, 2019
Greek mythology’s greatest heroes!
I loved this retelling of the heroes of the Greek myths. I knew I would. I enjoyed the first one (Mythos), and I had umpteen hours of Stephen Fry’s voice to look forward to (I listened on Audible). I could happily listen to him reading the back of a cereal packet, to be quite honest (but I do prefer books). He has a voice that you want to listen to: he brings these stories to life, and tells them in such a modern, engaging way. I have proof. My 15 year old son (Seb) would turn his headphones off in the car to listen along when I played this on our journey down to Devon from Cheshire (a six hour journey). And not one comment from him (anything Marvel or DC, he always has endless comments to make and often spoils the film - drives me mad!).
So, Stephen tells us about Heracles, Perseus, Jason and others that I wasn’t as familiar with, like Oedipus and Bellerophon. Honestly, this book is bursting with heroes, and whilst this sounds like a ridiculous thing to say, what I actually mean is that I didn’t feel as though they were short changed in their space. All of the heroes were given their moments of glory again: their stories were told with care, with humour and with feeling. I’m hoping more will come out of this ‘Great Mythology’ series, because I am well up for listening to more. I’ll even pick up my Audible subscription again. I just need to get through the long list of Audible books that I have first...
Anyway, I would highly recommend this book and Mythos as well, and if you can, definitely listen to the audiobook version. You won’t regret it!
So, Stephen tells us about Heracles, Perseus, Jason and others that I wasn’t as familiar with, like Oedipus and Bellerophon. Honestly, this book is bursting with heroes, and whilst this sounds like a ridiculous thing to say, what I actually mean is that I didn’t feel as though they were short changed in their space. All of the heroes were given their moments of glory again: their stories were told with care, with humour and with feeling. I’m hoping more will come out of this ‘Great Mythology’ series, because I am well up for listening to more. I’ll even pick up my Audible subscription again. I just need to get through the long list of Audible books that I have first...
Anyway, I would highly recommend this book and Mythos as well, and if you can, definitely listen to the audiobook version. You won’t regret it!
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2395 KP) rated Statue of Limitations in Books
Jan 29, 2020
Entertaining Debut
Athena Spencer has had to move back to live with her family in Michigan after her divorce. That means dealing with her large, crazy Greek family on a daily basis since she and her young son are living with them and she is working at the family’s garden center. It also means she is on hand when her grandparent’s Greek restaurant is threatened by the powerful Talbot family. They intend to raze an entire block of shops to put in condos. The fact that a murder takes place in their home, two weeks after another suspicious death, doesn’t seem to be slowing their plans down at all. The police are focusing their attention on a stranger in town, but Athena thinks they have the wrong suspect. Can she solve the murder and save her grandparent’s restaurant?
As I was starting this book, I was thinking I was going to have problems with it. Athena’s family likes to spend their time meddling in her life, something that I find annoying. Honestly, the family needs more development quickly because I still found them annoying at the end. I also questioned just why Athena was going to such extremes to help a stranger. But I kept reading, and as I kept reading, I got more and more hooked on the story. Yes, there is a lot here, and in lesser hands, it might have gone very wrong. Here, it worked. There was always something going on to keep me engaged. The ending was a bit abrupt, but it did wrap everything up nicely. This is a light book, but if that is what you are looking for, you’ll be delighted. Kate Collins’s many fans will be very happy.
As I was starting this book, I was thinking I was going to have problems with it. Athena’s family likes to spend their time meddling in her life, something that I find annoying. Honestly, the family needs more development quickly because I still found them annoying at the end. I also questioned just why Athena was going to such extremes to help a stranger. But I kept reading, and as I kept reading, I got more and more hooked on the story. Yes, there is a lot here, and in lesser hands, it might have gone very wrong. Here, it worked. There was always something going on to keep me engaged. The ending was a bit abrupt, but it did wrap everything up nicely. This is a light book, but if that is what you are looking for, you’ll be delighted. Kate Collins’s many fans will be very happy.
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