Eleanor Luhar (47 KP) rated A Voice in the Distance (Flynn Laukonen, #2) in Books
Jun 24, 2019
This book was even more... emotional for me. I don't want to go into too much detail, but Flynn really reminds me of my boyfriend. The ending of this novel - while fantastic and honest - was not very comforting at all.
Jennah and Flynn started dating after the first book, and so in this book we alternate between the two narratives. Hearing Jennah's thoughts on what's happening with Flynn was amazing. I related to a lot of it.
In case you haven't heard about A Note of Madness, it's about Flynn Laukonen, a young uni student in London. He struggles with mental health problems and is misdiagnosed at first, but eventually correctly diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He suffers from extreme manic episodes, followed by severe depression. Fitting his music - especially competitions - around these episodes is quite a feat.
As I mentioned earlier, the ending is great. It was extremely bittersweet. I think it's good to be honest about things like this, though, and not just throw together a stereotypical happy ending.
In this book, Flynn goes through a few treatment methods. Following attempted suicide (which may be hard for some people to read about, so be warned) he is sectioned and sent to a residential unit for a month. He also has some issues involving his medication and the side effects they cause.
The most noteworthy thing about Jennah's take on Flynn's illness is her admitting that Flynn can be horrible and can hurt her sometimes, and it's okay to recognise that. Just because he is ill does not mean he is excused for harmful and mean behaviour. This is so important for anyone to realise when dealing with a loved one with any kind of mental health problems.
A really good book, realistic and reassuring but really quite emotional. 4 stars.
Grace Notes
8.0
Rate It
Book
Gil DuPont likes life exactly the way it is. It might not be full of friends, love, and laughter,...
The Heiress: The Revelations of Anne de Bourgh
1.0
Rate It
Book
In this gorgeously written and spellbinding historical novel based on Pride and Prejudice, the...
Virtual Families
Games and Entertainment
8.0
Rate It
App
Virtual Families is a casual family sim that runs in true real time. Adopt a little person from the...
The Sugarless Plum
10.0
Rate It
Book
It started as the perfect story. Zippora Karz was a member of the famed New York City Ballet by the...
Melting For You (Neighborhood Shindig #1)
8.0
Rate It
Book
After his father’s heart attack, Isaiah Morrell gave up cooking in his own high-end Atlanta...
Contemporary MM Romance
ClareR (5542 KP) rated The Glass Hotel in Books
Aug 27, 2021
However, this book isn’t just about Ponzi schemes. It’s a character driven book, and there are a fair few of them.
Vincent was a fascinating character - she starts her life in a remote village in Canada, only reachable by boat. When it looks like she’s losing her way, she gets a job at a hotel and meets Jonathan Alkaitis - the organiser of the Ponzi scheme. Vincent is completely unconcerned at where the money she spends is coming from, she just spends it, lives in their luxury apartments, living the life she never had as a child. When that money is gone, Vincent moves on - she’s a survivor, and I really like that about her.
I couldn’t believe the length of Alkaitis’ prison sentence - I’m assuming 140 years or more is normal for a fraud of this scale. He doesn’t cope well. He has visions, sees ghosts of the people whose lives he destroyed. This was really eerie: were they real? Was it his imagination?
Leon Prevant shows what happens to a lot of older people when they have no income: he becomes one of the nomadic people, travelling in a camper-van from job to job. No savings, no home. The fear as they get older, of illness or infirmity.
So yes, I really enjoyed this. I liked that it’s completely different to Station 11, and I’m very glad I read it!
Lindsay (1693 KP) rated A Season on the Wind in Books
Oct 26, 2022
We have birds, and bird logs mentioned at the end of each chapter. Will Ben see his way back to the Amish and find that his love is the one that sparked his love for birds? Will there be romance sparked for Penny and Ben and maybe even Micah? Ben's cousin seems to may have found a love interest.
Ben seems to need to get over an illness but does not know he has it. While he is in town, Happ seems to recognize Ben, and so does Penny when she first steps and arrives at Lost Creek Farm. What will Ben do, and will Ben go bird searching with Micah? They seem to be on a rare hunt for a White-Winged Tern.
We are getting more of the relationships from Natalie and Boyd. Micah seems to be interested in Shelley Yoder. But is Shelley into Micah? Ben seems to be on the edge of his past life and does not want to see his father. All because of his brother Levi. But will Ben come around soon? He keeps getting memories of this little brother Levi. Are they good or not? It seems the lord is working on them all. Including Penny. Will Ben and Penny get together?
The CBC is around, and all of them are trying to partner up for the big event. The Christmas Bird Count is the first for StoneyRidge. How will it go, and Will Ben catch his rare bird? It seems to be evading Micah and Ben, this little White Tail Tern. Natalie may be falling for Boyd, but will she run away too? I hope she stops comparing Boyd to her ex-husband Joel. But we will have to see.
Where There's a Will (Dads & Adages #1)
8.0
Rate It
Book
...There's A Way. Connor and Will are at vastly different points in their lives. At 32, Connor...
Contemporary MM Age Gap Romance
ClareR (5542 KP) rated Our Hideous Progeny in Books
Aug 15, 2023
Mary is a keen scientist, helping her husband Henry in his geological work. Without wealth and connections though, there is little they can do to really make their names in the field. So when she discovers Victor’s papers, she and her husband decide that there is only one thing to do. So they take themselves off to Henry’s old family home in Scotland to try and create a monster of their own.
Henry is a bit of an idiot though, and has managed to make himself some enemies, and one such turns up on the doorstep demanding money. When they explain to him what they’re doing, he demands to take part - and then things start to go wrong.
I really liked the female characters in this: Mary, and Henry’s reclusive and sickly sister, Maisie. They are determined (even in Maisie’s illness she isn’t a walkover) and intelligent. It was quite frustrating to see Mary treated so badly, whilst at the same time the men relied on her to do a lot of the work. It is her moral compass that grounds the endeavour, but to be fair, they don’t seem to listen to her much (of course, they know better!).
There’s a real sense of time and place in this - from the attitudes of the men towards the women, to the attitudes of the upper classes towards the lower. Horse and carriages, steam trains and bathing houses all entrenched the novel firmly in the Victorian age.
This really is a phenomenal read, and I loved it. There’s nothing like a strong female character or two having a go at the patriarchy to make my day!!