ClareR (6167 KP) rated Black Cake in Books
Jul 12, 2022
I loved the chapters on the Caribbean island - I felt transported there (or at least I wished I was!). The contrast between the island and the UK was radical, and must have been a shock for the Bennett’s - and for anyone else travelling from warmer climes!
The real story is about Benny and Byron having to relearn everything they thought they knew about their mother. Even her husband hadn’t known the whole story.
This is beautifully told, and it’s one of those books where you turn the last page with a tinge of sadness.
Highly recommended.
Sisters
8.0
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Something unspeakable has happened to sisters July and September. Desperate for a fresh start,...
Literary Fiction Gothic
Eye of the Dolphin (2006)
6.3
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Alyssa is a troubled 14-year old, suspended from school a year after her mother has drowned. Her...
Frank Herbert's Dune, the Graphic Novel book 2: Muad'dib
6.0
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In DUNE: The Graphic Novel, Book 2: Muad’Dib, the second of three volumes adapting Frank...
ClareR (6167 KP) rated The Silence of Scheherazade in Books
Nov 29, 2022
We follow four families as their lives are changed forever when the Ottoman Empire is torn apart, and the city of Smyrna is at the front and centre of the trouble and violence.
This novel covers about 17 years from 1905, and follows four families from very different backgrounds: Levantine, Greek, Turkish and Armenian.
Scheherazade is born in September 1905, and never knows her mother as she is abandoned. An Indian spy (sent from the British) is who will tie them all together.
My thoughts:
I love an epic, sprawling story, and following the lives of four families certainly gives a lot of scope for that.
It was fascinating to learn about the different cultures of the four families, and of course Smyrna was a main character in itself.
It’s a book to be immersed in, with the sights and smells beautifully described.
Just my kind of book!
Staged 4 Murder
8.0
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Casting suspicion . . . Sophie “Phee” Kimball wants to get some work done at her private...
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated The Burning Girls in Books
Aug 17, 2023
Book
The Burning Girls
By C.J. Tudor
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
When Rev Jack Brooks and teenage daughter Flo move to Chapel Croft, they're far from welcome.
The closed-off community, deeply suspicious of outsiders, is watching them carefully.
Yet Jack has more frightening concerns.
Rumours of the town's secrets are spreading like wildfire, while strange happenings haunt Jack and Flo's every move.
The past is catching up with Chapel Croft - and with Jack - and it's darker than anyone could have feared . . .
This was really really good almost 5⭐️ something just held me back and I’m not sure what! Well this had a few unexpected turns at the end that I didn’t see coming and reading as a mother it can be quite chilling. Highly recommend this is the first time I’ve read C.J. Tudor it won’t be the last!
Vital Found ( Evelyn Maynard trilogy book 2)
8.0
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The electrifying sequel to the International Bestseller Variant Lost.Bradford Hills feels more like...
The Weekend Before the Wedding
8.0
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One weekend, one bride-to-be, what could possibly go wrong… All Shelley wanted on her hen...
The Seventh Victim
8.0
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On a cold February afternoon in 1990, seven-year-old Danny Redpath disappeared from his home. Four...