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What His Wife Knew
What His Wife Knew
Jo Jakeman | 2022 | Thriller
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Was it suicide or was it murder? That is the question and one that this book does a great job of unravelling.

Oscar is found dead by his brother at the bottom of Cloud Drop; a note is found which just says "sorry" and his wedding ring in his car - a slam bunk you might say but his wife, Beth, is having none of it and the more she delves, the more she realises her husband is not who she thought he was but neither are those around her.

This was proper good! The story was compelling with plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing and although I guessed the main twist, it didn't ruin the story for me at all as it was great getting there. The main characters are excellent and well developed and the pace is good.

All in all, a great psychological/domestic thriller and one which I would recommend to lovers of this genre.

Thank you Penguin Random House UK and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.
  
Ticket to Ride: Europe
Ticket to Ride: Europe
2005 | Transportation, Travel
I have owned Ticket to Ride: Europe for a long time and it’s not a game that I will be removing from my collection anytime soon. The first time I played the game I was amazed at how quickly the rules could be learned. It takes little time for you to start understanding the nuances of this game. Whenever I teach any edition of Ticket to Ride to someone who hasn’t played board games for years, I tell them that I can get them to completely understand this game in three rounds. I have yet to fail at doing so. The game doesn’t bog down with complicated calculations or actions. With four simple choices for actions each turn, game play moves at a lightning pace. I have found very few people that don’t like the game after playing it numerous times. This is a great accomplishment for any game.

Reviewer: Tyler Nichols
Read the full review here: https://www.boardgamequest.com/ticket-to-ride-europe-board-game-review/
  
An Anonymous Girl
An Anonymous Girl
Greer Hendricks, Sarah Pekkanen | 2019 | Mystery, Thriller
8
7.5 (15 Ratings)
Book Rating
Missing that big reveal.
Like other reviewers, I was super excited when I learned that the authors of The Wife Between Us would be releasing a new book, and I could not wait to dive in! While An Anonymous Girl was GOOD, it wasn't GREAT.

I enjoyed the actual story very much, and I felt like I needed to find out what was going on. I liked the concept of the morality study, and puzzled over some of the questions myself. I sympathized with Jess, and found Dr. Shields to be fascinatingly twisted. The characters were well-written and the plot was well-developed, however it's missing a "big reveal," as we were gifted with in The Wife Between Us. There are plenty of smaller reveals throughout the story to keep it interesting, but I kept waiting for the big one, and was disappointed.

The ending was also a bit strange...kind of "that's it?"

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the ARE!
  
Wild Strawberries (1957)
Wild Strawberries (1957)
1957 | Drama
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"The first one is Wild Strawberries by Ingmar Bergman. It’s what I saw when I was 15, and it showed me that films could be something more than just entertainment or going and staring at girls in the cinema or whatever, but film could have the kind of weight of a book or something like that. I used to be a big reader, and I loved going to the movies, but I had no sense of taste in the movies. You know, I grew up in a suburb of London, and I went to school in the middle of London, and that’s when I found myself, one wet afternoon, in an arthouse, and there was Wild Strawberries, and that, for me, was the beginning of it all. It had so many ideas, and it played with dreams, and I thought, “Oh my God. This is quite something.” So it really was a kind of major event in my life."

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Escape From Olympus (The Falken Chronicles Book 2)
Escape From Olympus (The Falken Chronicles Book 2)
Piers Platt | 2017 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Thriller
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Awesomely imagined world (3 more)
Fantastic plot
Sirius Falken ???
The bad guys
I didn't think this series could get any better, but it did!!!
Ok, y'all! I didn't think Piers Platt was gonna bust out a sequel that was even better than the first book! But. He. Did!
I was engrossed from the first paragraph and found myself wanting to read Escape from Olympus until I couldn't hold my eyes open any longer. It was that good!
Action-packed until the end, Escape from Olympus begins with a bang of a first chapter! It had my heart racing and my mind reeling.
I don't like to post reviews with spoilers, so I will just say that even if you haven't read the first book, Escape from Oz, you can totally get down with this book. It works prerty well as a stand-alone, although you will have missed a tiny bit of background on Falken which may confuse you for a split second in a couple of parts, but it's not vital to enjoy the story at hand.
Piers Platt did an amazing job relating the world of Olympus and its inhabitants. I was also very impressed with the fact that I actually liked the villians because he did such a great job with their personalities. I was completely invested in the fates of ALL characters in this story and I can't remember that ever happening to me in a book like this.
I am waiting dor my weekend to calm down so I can start the third book, Return to Oz! There was an excerpt of the first chapter at the end of this book, and I am so ready!!!
  
The Fault in Our Stars
The Fault in Our Stars
John Green | 2012 | Children
8
8.2 (185 Ratings)
Book Rating
I admit I got swept up into the hype with this book, I try my best to keep an open mind and a balanced opinion when a book becomes massively popular and so with this review I will be giving my honest opinion whilst ignoring the numerous glowing reviews I have read.
I must say that I really enjoyed this book (that's if you can say 'enjoy' when reading a book about Cancer) and I found myself thinking about it constantly after I finished reading. I went to sleep thinking about it and I woke up thinking about it, I then thought about it for the rest of the day. I found it heart-breaking in places and funny in others so I laughed and I cried and I learnt not to take life for granted. I haven't read anything like this before, I usually stay away from romance novels as they become so clichŽ.
I liked both Hazel and Augustus and I felt for them because of their illnesses, I believe that many people have had their lives touched by Cancer, me including, so some parts were difficult to read...especially the parts where the characters laughed and joked about it.
The reasons why I knocked off a star was because the book was very philosophical which meant a fair bit went over my head at times, the long speeches and the constant use of quotes and diagrams. I thought the knowledge of the main characters was very far fetched for their age and so the story became a bit unbelievable, this caused my connection to the characters to weaken slightly.
Personally, I don't like to add spoilers to my reviews and I would still be in doubt even if I was to hide my review (as I know there is nothing worse than stumbling upon a spoiler) so I will keep this vague. I wish some of the 'hard-hitting' parts of the novel were more in depth, even-though I was sobbing I still believe that these parts could of hit so much harder.
So, although not as great as I thought it was going to be, I still recommend this book as I enjoyed it very much.
  
The Saboteur (Jude Lyon #2)
The Saboteur (Jude Lyon #2)
Simon Conway | 2021 | Crime, Thriller
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I was lucky enough to be invited to read "The Saboteur" having previously read and thoroughly enjoyed the first in the series, "The Stranger". Let me tell you that I was not disappointed in the slightest and I was on the edge of my seat and totally engrossed in this book from the first to the last line. I want to reassure you that you don't have to have read "The Stranger" to enjoy this; this can most definitely be read as a standalone.

This book is absolutely packed to the rafters with action and suspense, thrills and spills, tension and twists. The plot is engrossing, riveting and fast paced - I found myself having to remind myself to breathe!

The cast of characters that Mr Conway has created are just fantastic - I literally cheered when the baddies got their comeuppance and cried when people were lost; not many books do this to me.

The ending was perfect and definitely leaves things open for a third - well I hope so anyway because I will be first in line.

Many, many thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for inviting me to read this and, in return, to provide an honest, unbiased and unedited review.
  
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Merissa (12894 KP) rated Hell Bound in Books

Apr 12, 2023  
Hell Bound
Hell Bound
Kate Allenton | 2014 | Contemporary, Romance, Thriller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is a standalone romantic suspense story that starts off slowly before picking up and maintaining speed.

It tells the tale of Riley, a woman with secrets, who is an FBI officer working on a case that is hitting very close to home. Although she would usually have been taken off the case for being too close, due to who she is (one of the secrets) and what is happening, her supervisor has given her the go-ahead to continue working the case.

I enjoyed reading this book although I personally prefer Lifting The Veil which I have only recently read. I found Sam to be slightly too cocky at the start and his "I know best" attitude. However, once things settled down, I started to like him more.

The story is well executed and thought out. You may or may not guess who the 'bad guy' is but even if you do guess, it doesn't take away any of the enjoyment you get from a well-written story.

Recommended for fans of Contemporary Romance with a pinch of Suspense added.

I received this book from Reading Alley in return for a fair and honest review.
 
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
September 6, 2016
  
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Scarlet (Alpha Marked, #1)
Celia Kyle | 2013
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I received this book by signing up for Celia Kyle's newsletter on her website.

Don't you just love it when you hit upon a book that is as hot as hell but will also make you laugh? I know I do and that's what I got with Scarlet. She has reached the incredibly OLD age of 30 and hasn't yet found her mates. Due to her having the Mark, she is now having to attend a Gathering in which she will try to find them.

I love the descriptions of the Wickham triplets and find it hilarious when Scarlet's mouth runs away with her. She may have two mates but she is not prepared to just let them walk all over her.

The descriptions of Scarlet's Alphas was also very well-done as they did indeed seem to balance each other out. Madden made me smile more than once with his quips.

A novella but jam-packed full of action and hotness. Can't wait to read Gabriella, book 2 in this series.
  
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Beth Orton recommended Transformer by Lou Reed in Music (curated)

 
Transformer by Lou Reed
Transformer by Lou Reed
1972 | Rock
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Around the same time as The Slits, me and Antonia, when we met, we used to sing 'Vicious'. We were really little and were all ""waaa!"", nutty little girls running around, pretty funny - I doubt I'd want to have met us now! - but we thought we were hilarious. We used to listen to Transformer - he's just extraordinary. He was just fantastic, just grown up with him, so it's hard to find a way to describe exactly what he means to me. I found a book of his lyrics and you can read them and he's just the most extraordinary poet. He's someone else where you can just sit and read his words as much as you can listen to his songs. I met him once and he told me he thought I was a pretty good lyricist! It was one of the Leonard Cohen things that we did - we were sitting next to each other watching Antony [Hegarty] and we chatted and he said that. I always consider that quite a big moment in my life."

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