The story centres around Adrian Thorby and the events that happen to him over the week of the Cuban missile crisis. His age is never mentioned, but I'd put it at around 13. The tension between America and Russia is affecting Hull in 1962, but those aren't the only things that worry Adrian that week.
Generally, when starting a book I read as little of the blurb as possible, so I was a little shocked when, on the second page, there's the line:
<blockquote>"He felt his willy twitching..."</blockquote>
Don't get me wrong, it's realistic, but I hadn't been expecting it! There was more on this subject throughout the book, and at times it was somewhat awkward, but this was probably proportionate to the embarrassment Adrian was feeling!
McBurnie created really realistic relationships between the characters, whether Adrian's family or friends. I loved the sibling rivalry, and could really relate to the sense of panic Adrian's friend Tim and he felt when they 'lost' his brother's book.
It took me a little while to get into this, but once I did, I enjoyed it. It's a creeper! McBurnie captures the little things really well - fears about the nuclear threat, and family niggles, for example. I also thought that, once it got going, the story managed to evoke the history it was representing. The casual acceptance of caning in school helped with a lot of this, haha!
Hazel (2934 KP) rated Liar Liar (DS Grace Allendale #3) in Books
Jan 19, 2020
Here we have another great story full of mystery and twists and one which I found hard to stop reading way too late into the night. This is book 3 in the series however, I don't think you have to have read the other 2 in order to enjoy this and I certainly feel it works well as a standalone.
Each and every character, both goodies and baddies, are well developed; their circumstances believable and scarily plausible. The setting is perfect and so well described I felt I was there. The pace is fast and engrossing with plenty of action and a fare amount of violence and scenes of peril right from the start however, this shouldn't come as a surprise if you've read the blurb.
The book is written with alternating chapters of the present and the past and rather than this complicating matters, it provided an insight into one of the main characters' motivations and justifications as to why she responds as she does. There are several strands that could all have a bearing on the investigation and rather than cause confusion, added to the mystery and intrigue making this an engrossing book and one which I would recommend to anyone who enjoys gritty, realistic and absorbing reads.
Thanks go to Avon Books UK via NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest and unbiased review.
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BookInspector (124 KP) rated What Magic Is This? in Books
Sep 24, 2020
The narrative was really gripping, I wanted to find out, what happened between Sophia and Aidan. The plot keeps changing between the events happening in the room, and Sophia’s love story in the past. This book is funny, very easy to read, and I liked the lessons it had to offer. There are not many surprises in this book, and sometimes it was quite predictable.
The writing style was really pleasant and easy to read. This edition has dyslexia friendly font, and the book itself wasn’t very long, so it was a quick read for me. The setting of this book doesn’t change much, it is either Sophia’s bedroom or the school. The ending of the book was quite predictable, but I liked the way it rounded up this story. The chapters are not very long, and this novel didn’t leave me bored.
So, to conclude, it was a great story about friendship, magic and finding what you really want. It has realistic characters and is an entertaining and educational read for young girls.