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    2 For 2

    2 For 2

    Games and Entertainment

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    WARNING! You will absolutely get addicted to this puzzle game. Connect the numbers, and DON’T...

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ClareR (6256 KP) rated The Keeper in Books

May 29, 2020  
The Keeper
The Keeper
Jessica Moor | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery, Thriller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I usually try to avoid books where there's violence directed against women, particularly spousal abuse. I just find it too uncomfortable. I seem to be feeling braver as I get older, and I'm so glad that I read this book. It's an interesting insight into the lives of women who find safety in Women's Refuges. It shows how hard it is for women to make their ways there, how many of them arrive nothing but the clothes on their backs - and the same goes for their children. It shows how hard the people who run these refuges work, and how undervalued they are - in fact, they're often a target for hate themselves. And we also get to see how some women return to abusive partners, and the ramifications.

Katie Straw's body is pulled from the river, and it looks as though she has committed suicide. However the women at the refuge that she worked at are adamant that she was murdered. The detectives who are put on her case really do seem to thoroughly investigate Katie's death, even though the older of the two is very much on the side of suicide (and he is a bit of a dinosaur). As they investigate though, it looks more and more likely that this is the case.

I found the lives of the women in the refuge fascinating, and I could easily have read more about them. To be honest, the older of the tow detectives was really interesting as well - it was like I was looking at the attitudes of a police officer from another age.

Near the end of the book, there's a fascinating twist - I didn't see it coming at all (I should say that I'm very much a reader who is along for the ride. I tend not to try and guess whats going to happen). I'm a big fan of unresolved endings too, and this certainly delivers (so there's a warning for those who DON'T like an unresolved ending!). You're left wondering what's going to happen next.

This was a really satisfying read, that I very much enjoyed!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.
  
    VIP Access for iPad

    VIP Access for iPad

    Business and Utilities

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    App

    Symantec VIP Access helps protect your online accounts and transactions by using a strong...

    Tarla Dalal Recipes

    Tarla Dalal Recipes

    Food & Drink and Lifestyle

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    The Best Indian Recipe & Video App 17000+ recipes. 7000+ classy food images+ 600 recipe videos....

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ClareR (6256 KP) rated The Startup Wife in Books

Mar 20, 2022  
The Startup Wife
The Startup Wife
Tahmima Anam | 2021
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I really enjoyed this satirical story of love and marriage in the setting of an app startup. It’s a book of two halves, really: a love story, and how you set an app is set up and start a business.

Computer scientist Asha, meets up with her high school crush, Cyrus, they fall in love and get married. Along with Cyrus’ friend Jules, Asha develops an app based on Cyrus’ beliefs. And the app really takes off - which is where the second part of the book kicks in.

Cyrus goes from reluctant participant in the venture, to being a guru who enthrals thousands of subscribers each day with his motivational webcasts. He IS the face of WAI, and Asha’s role is almost forgotten. Even when it becomes something of a phenomenon, Asha’s development and programming expertise is pushed aside to make way for her clearly more charismatic husband. The problem is, and this is what really started to put me off his character, Cyrus buys into his own charisma. He thinks he and the app are capable of doing far more than they realistically can do, and disaster awaits. If only they’d listened to Asha.

Asha is the loyal wife, but faced with being constantly undermined at work, and not being supported by Cyrus, things are bound to come to a head. And they certainly do! Everything that can go wrong, does!

I really liked the way that the author looked at how social media and apps should have a responsibility towards their users. People get carried away online, thinking that anything is possible, and social media can reinforce this.

I also think that the way that Asha was pushed out and her role trivialised was representative of many women in the workplace. In particular, the way that their investor ignored Asha in meetings, directing technical questions (her job) to the male partners.

Parts of this book really made me laugh, other parts showed the online world as trivial and shallow. It portrayed the dangers of trusting a programme with no human perception of situations. It’s a great book which not only entertained me, but really got me thinking.