Search

Search only in certain items:

Truly Devious (Truly Devious #1)
Truly Devious (Truly Devious #1)
Maureen Johnson | 2018 | Mystery, Thriller
8
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Feisty heroine (2 more)
Great mystery plots
Keeps you guessing
That cliffhanger! Be prepared for a long wait until 2019 (0 more)
Fun, suspenseful page-turner
Stephanie "Stevie" Bell is very excited when she is accepted to Ellingham Academy, an elite private school in Vermont for free-thinking junior and senior high school students. Ellingham was founded by wealthy Albert Ellingham as a place where students can learn in their own ways, and where puzzle and riddles take center stage. The school became especially infamous when Albert's wife, Iris, and young daughter, Alice, were kidnapped not long after it opened. Shortly before the kidnapping, Albert received a mocking riddle threatening of murder in all sorts of forms via the mail. Now that Stevie is at Ellingham, her goal is to solve Iris and Alice's cold case. A true crime junkie, she knows everything about it and believes that being on the scene is the missing piece she needs to put everything together. But first she needs to get used to being away from home, befriend her eclectic group of housemates, and then deal with a shocking new crime that rocks Ellingham to its core.

I really love Maureen Johnson's Shades of London series, so I was really excited to see she had a new mystery series coming out. It didn't disappoint. This was a really fun, fascinating book featuring a great, feisty heroine in Stevie Bell. I fell for Stevie immediately, with her awkward demeanor and allegiance to old-school detective novels. Johnson has done a great job in creating a well-rounded character in Stevie, who really shines in this novel.

The intersecting mysteries will suck you in immediately. I basically wanted to ignore work and responsibilities and keep reading this one. The novel tells the book mainly from Steve's point of view, but we also get bits and pieces from the past--various narrators, case notes, etc. It's quite effective, and you'll find yourself intrigued by the Alice/Iris kidnapping, as well as the current tragedy that befalls Ellingham.

Steve's housemates at Ellingham are diverse and a bit crazy--they are a lot to sort through, but interesting nonetheless. This book will definitely keep you guessing, that's for sure. The cliffhanger ending is crazy--be prepared that this is a trilogy and that everything isn't wrapped up tidily!

Nonetheless, I really enjoyed this one, and I cannot wait to read the next book! I love Stevie--I felt such a pull to this plucky detective, who owns no jewelry, wears a lot of black, and can't dance. The book also treats mental illness in a great, matter-of-fact way, with its honest portrayal of Stevie's anxiety and panic attacks. Everything combines into a fun, interesting, suspenseful, page-turner that will leave you wanting more.
  
    StockRadars

    StockRadars

    Finance, Utilities and Stickers

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    * Winner, Financial Industry Software, Asia Pacific ICT Alliance Awards 2014 (APICTA 2014) * Winner,...

A Spell of Good Things
A Spell of Good Things
Ayobami Adebayo | 2023 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A Spell of Good Things by Ayòbámi Adébáyò is a book that looks unflinchingly at the have’s and have not’s in Nigeria. The two main characters come from two very different backgrounds.

Eniola is a boy who looks like a man. His schoolteacher father loses his job due to a shakeup in the education system, and falls into a deep depression. This leaves Eniola working as an errand boy for the local tailor, collecting newspapers and begging (much against his will). He wants so much more for his life, though…

Wuraola is from a wealthy family. Her parents are proud of her succeeding in her aim to be a doctor - and now they expect her to marry. And Kunle is the son of friends that they favour. But he’s volatile in private (to say the least).

We follow the stories of Eniola and Wuraola and the differences in their lives are stark. Eniola goes to school hungry, he’s beaten by the teachers because his parents pay their school fees late (if at all). And finally, he thinks he has found a way out of his poverty - when in fact it’s something far worse.

Wuraola’s life is difficult in a different way: she has a well-paid, well-respected job, but the Nigerian health system is overstretched, underfunded and doesn’t have enough doctors. But she believes in doing her duty, so she works hard, and says yes when Kunle proposes.

Wuraola’s and Eniola’s lives are on a collision course though.

I inhaled this book. It’s gritty and doesn’t hold back in any way. It’s an insight into lives I’ve never experienced and so powerfully told. The themes of domestic abuse, poverty, access to education and political corruption make for a heartbreaking read.
Recommended.
  
The Lost Heir (Crown of Frost and Blood #1)
The Lost Heir (Crown of Frost and Blood #1)
CY Jones | 2020 | Horror, Paranormal, Romance
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
170 of 200
Kindle
The Lost Heir ( crown of blood and frost book 1)
By CY Jones

I'm the daughter of a billionaire.
Queen of my private school, and now let's add fairy princess to the mix.
Crazy Right?
When the new hottie in town tells me that I’m his soul bound mate, that I’m in danger, and he’s taking me back to the other side of the veil, my first instinct is to tell him he’s insane.
Until I can’t deny the truth any longer.
A series of events has turned my life upside down, and my so called bound mate, may or may not have my best interest at heart.
He says he's the prince of another land, but I’m Winter DelaCorte, Queen of LA, and I bow to
no one.





A missing princess, a vampire prince, a fae king and a knight in shiny black feathers! What’s not to like? A young girl with a lot on her shoulders after her father goes missing presumably dead not only just became a billionaires but also a long lost princess with 3 bonded men! Story was interesting characters were likeable and no so likeable. Looking forward to seeing where it goes!