Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (4534)

Content

Eleanor Luhar (47 KP) rated Glow in Books

Jun 24, 2019

Glow

Ned Beauman | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry

4.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

This is just going to be a quick review of the book I finished last week, Glow. I found it and borrowed it from my local library on a whim because it looked interesting, but I was sort of disappointed. Although I love the scientific references throughout the book I just found it a bit boring, honestly. It was meant to be thrilling and gripping... I just didn't feel that way.

Raf manages to get caught up in some major business involving a new drug, Glow, and a massive corporation called Lacebark. Somehow the mysterious girl he met at a party is also tied up in it, as is the friend of Raf's who recently went missing.

Somehow Raf also meets all the right people along the way, and gets accepted into helping them with their cause. I found this rather unplausable but that's just me, I suppose. My main problem was having no investment in Raf as a character, and not feeling any of his relationships with any other characters to any degree whatsoever. He just didn't feel real enough.

I honestly don't quite get what even happened. Why was Lacebark killing people? Why was Win working for them? I just got a bit lost in the end. It's a shame, because I really liked the amount of biological vocabulary scattered throughout - it made me feel like I'm actually learning things in my Psychology A-Level!

2 to 2.5 stars at a push.

Kudos

Eleanor Luhar (47 KP) rated The Baby in Books

Jun 24, 2019

Read the original review: https://bookmarkedreading.wordpress.com/2015/10/11/book-review-the-baby/

I seriously had no idea what this book was even about. I saw it displayed in my library and just thought "Heck, why not?"

As the cover suggests, five friends have their lives change on the night of Olivia's 17th birthday party. Yep, you guessed it; There in Olivia's very own bathroom is her friend Nicola, and out pops a new addition to the gang.

I read this book quickly (which I know is not unusual for me) and didn't struggle doing so. It was an easy read, with a section following each character individually. The writing style and language is adapted slightly to suit each character, to allow full submersion of the reader into the book.

There are surprising elements in the story which, after being read, will seem strangely obvious. I love this sense of foreshadowing in a book. And despite the title, this book isn't really focused on "the baby" alone. Instead it tells each character's solo story, including all their troubles - baby- or not-baby-related.

As I said before, The Baby is a nice, easy read, with a somewhat carefree sense about it. I can't say I relate to it in the sense of having a new baby around, but there are aspects that I can say I have experienced. So I'm going to give it 4 stars, more than I originally suspected it would earn.