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Christine A. (965 KP) rated What She Saw in Books
Jun 15, 2019
Slow burn, debut novel
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.
In What She Saw by Wendy Clarke, you meet Leona, a loving and extremely protective mother of teenaged Beth. They do everything together, absolutely everything. They seem to be perfect and have the perfect life. Of course, things are not always what they seem. Leona and Beth both have secrets which they keep from each other and from everyone else. The question asked is, "how far will a mother go to keep her child safe?"
What She Saw is a slow burn which I had difficulty getting into. However, since I did, I could not put it down. I was a Psychology major and am a sucker for when a character meeting with a psychologist partly reveals the story.
The story uses flashbacks and the present. It starts slow but is suspenseful and well-written.
According to Goodreads, Clarke has published over three hundred short stories published in national women's magazines, and this is her debut novel. As of 6/13/19, it has a rating of 4.25 out of 5. Most of the ratings are 5 stars, and none are 1 star. For a debut novel, that is quite impressive.
I am looking forward to reading more by Wendy Clarke.
This review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 6/15/19.
In What She Saw by Wendy Clarke, you meet Leona, a loving and extremely protective mother of teenaged Beth. They do everything together, absolutely everything. They seem to be perfect and have the perfect life. Of course, things are not always what they seem. Leona and Beth both have secrets which they keep from each other and from everyone else. The question asked is, "how far will a mother go to keep her child safe?"
What She Saw is a slow burn which I had difficulty getting into. However, since I did, I could not put it down. I was a Psychology major and am a sucker for when a character meeting with a psychologist partly reveals the story.
The story uses flashbacks and the present. It starts slow but is suspenseful and well-written.
According to Goodreads, Clarke has published over three hundred short stories published in national women's magazines, and this is her debut novel. As of 6/13/19, it has a rating of 4.25 out of 5. Most of the ratings are 5 stars, and none are 1 star. For a debut novel, that is quite impressive.
I am looking forward to reading more by Wendy Clarke.
This review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 6/15/19.
Louise (64 KP) rated The Dreadful Fate of Jonathan York: A Yarn for the Strange at Heart in Books
Jul 2, 2018
"When you’re old and gray like me, and someone asks you for your story, what would you rather have – nothing at all or the story you lived through tonight?"
I really enjoyed this book, but found it somewhat predictable as I knew how the book was going to end . The artwork to this book was really good and I felt that it suited the story very well with limited colours being used. I found the font quite spooky but also difficult to see what words were written in parts.
There are 3 separate short stories that were intertwined within the book , two were written in verse and one was silent which I think I understood but it’s just pictures for you to interpret in your own way.
There were important messages throughout the book, such as being out of your comfort zone, bullies,sticking up for yourself and confidence.The different monsters in the book were very creepy and all shapes and sizes. This is definitely targeted for middle graders (8-12yrs), however can be enjoyed by all ages as there were references to Sean Connery and I don’t think there are going to be many kids knowing who he is (I may be worng)
This is the first book by Kory Merritt and would be interested in reading others.
Overall I rated this 3.5 stars out of 5.
For more check out louiselovesbooks.wordpress.com
I really enjoyed this book, but found it somewhat predictable as I knew how the book was going to end . The artwork to this book was really good and I felt that it suited the story very well with limited colours being used. I found the font quite spooky but also difficult to see what words were written in parts.
There are 3 separate short stories that were intertwined within the book , two were written in verse and one was silent which I think I understood but it’s just pictures for you to interpret in your own way.
There were important messages throughout the book, such as being out of your comfort zone, bullies,sticking up for yourself and confidence.The different monsters in the book were very creepy and all shapes and sizes. This is definitely targeted for middle graders (8-12yrs), however can be enjoyed by all ages as there were references to Sean Connery and I don’t think there are going to be many kids knowing who he is (I may be worng)
This is the first book by Kory Merritt and would be interested in reading others.
Overall I rated this 3.5 stars out of 5.
For more check out louiselovesbooks.wordpress.com
BookwormMama14 (18 KP) rated The Crown (The Selection, #5) in Books
Jan 2, 2019
Oh...My...I can not tell you the crazy rollercoaster ride of emotions Kiera Cass took me on in this series. Now that it is all said and done and I look back, I am SO glad I finally picked up The Selection. I will say that the first three books (America's selection) are the BEST part of the series. I totally binge read them and would probably do so again in the future. However, I was disappointed with the Eadlyn's selection story. The Heir and The Crown have a very different feel than the first three books. Eadlyn is a very different person than America and that is to be expected. I did enjoy watching Eadlyn mature and become her own person. She has a strength that I admire. And I was happy with the final result of her selection, however the story as a whole felt a little too forced. There was a lot of fluff that wasn't wholly necessary. That being said, although I think it would have been better to end the series with The One, it was good to read the continuing stories of so many characters from the original books. I doubt I will read The Heir and The Crown again, but the first three book of The Selection series are among my favorite books I have read this year. Overall, I did not enjoy The Crown...It fell very short of my expectations.
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Captain Disaster: The Damaris Touch in Books
Nov 11, 2019
Captain Disaster, inept spacefaring star of video games and short stories gets his own novella. After answering a distress call, things become rather too exciting for our erstwhile hero. Be prepared for the series of unlikely comedic events that ensue as he faces (almost) certain death.
There are books that take themselves seriously and there are those that don't. This is as firmly in the second group as the author's tongue is in his cheek. Filled with throwaway jokes galore, terrible groan out loud puns and slapstick antics this is a story to read for a good laugh.
The style is best described as 'free', Seaman swerving off at tangents to deliver a simple gag before returning to the story at hand. And that is the charm - there will be no deep introspection for the reader into what motivates the characters, just a vain attempt to keep ahead of the flow of jokes. Okay, not all of them hit, but like a rapid fire comedy routine that doesn't matter because if you didn't like that one there will be another one along in a minute. And yes perhaps there could be some tightening of the prose or plot here and there but that would definitely alter its character, perhaps too far towards serious. And that would never do.
So kick back, relax, set the lighting to 'mood' and the ship to autopilot. You've got some laughing to do
There are books that take themselves seriously and there are those that don't. This is as firmly in the second group as the author's tongue is in his cheek. Filled with throwaway jokes galore, terrible groan out loud puns and slapstick antics this is a story to read for a good laugh.
The style is best described as 'free', Seaman swerving off at tangents to deliver a simple gag before returning to the story at hand. And that is the charm - there will be no deep introspection for the reader into what motivates the characters, just a vain attempt to keep ahead of the flow of jokes. Okay, not all of them hit, but like a rapid fire comedy routine that doesn't matter because if you didn't like that one there will be another one along in a minute. And yes perhaps there could be some tightening of the prose or plot here and there but that would definitely alter its character, perhaps too far towards serious. And that would never do.
So kick back, relax, set the lighting to 'mood' and the ship to autopilot. You've got some laughing to do
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