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Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Ecstasy Unveiled (Demonica #4) in Books

Nov 18, 2019  
Ecstasy Unveiled (Demonica #4)
Ecstasy Unveiled (Demonica #4)
Larissa Ione | 2010
8
9.7 (7 Ratings)
Book Rating
I gave myself a break after the initial three brothers because Eidolon, Shade and Wraith had been with me for a long time by then and I really liked all three of them so the addition of a fourth brother put me off a little. Lore seemed to be some assassin for hire that came across as being way too cocky in those first few chapters we met him in in the last book. But he did come up good in the end.

In his book, Lore is tasked with doing his 100th job, his final kill before he can be set free from his master. The only issue is that he's sent to kill Kynan, a close friend of his brothers. They won't let him kill Kynan and neither will Kynan's angel protector, Idess.

Idess continually transports him away as he tries and after chaining him up for several days they get to know each other and the intense attraction between them gets stronger and stronger. Both are in a pickle, though, as Lore's sister will die if he doesn't kill Kynan and Idess now has both Kynan and Lore as her protectees so how can she save both of them?

It turns out that someone from each of their pasts have joined forces to bring about their ruination. And it almost works.

I actually grew to like Lore a heck of a lot. He was so...unselfish? Is that a word? He was trying to do everything for everyone else, but doing it silently. He didn't brag about being a good guy. He actually thought he was a bad guy. Which I think is stupid. Yeah, he's been forced to do bad things by his assassin master but you were doing it for your sister!

Since I've fallen back in love with this series, I'm going to read Sin Undone next, which is Lore's sisters story.
  
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ClareR (6129 KP) rated Dreamland in Books

Feb 5, 2020  
Dreamland
Dreamland
Nancy Bilyeau | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Dreamland is set in 1911, the year of a heatwave in New York. Peggy Batternberg, a wealthy heiress, is forced to spend the summer at the exclusive Oriental Hotel on Coney Island. She would rather work at the Moonrise Bookstore and keep her distance from her controlling family. Even though she’s not allowed to go to the fairgrounds on Coney Island on her own, she does go there with her brother and male cousins. After an argument, they become separated, and Peggy is able to explore Dreamland (the fairground) alone. She meets a poor artist, Stefan, and falls in love with him and his art.

But when dead women start turning up and Stefan is under suspicion, Peggy realises that the culprit may be closer than she realises (and not Stefan!). She decides that she has to be the one to find out who has murdered these women. In doing so, she discovers the dark side of her family.

I really enjoyed this - the descriptions were so good, and really illustrated the vast difference between the exclusive, luxurious hotels and the fairgrounds, the wealth of Peggy’s family and the poverty of the fairground workers.
Henry Taul, Peggy’s sisters fiancé and her ex-boyfriend, really is an unpleasant piece of work, and his mother is awful - a great example of ‘new money’ and how they clearly don’t know how to conduct themselves (ok, I’m saying this with a little ‘tongue in cheek’). Unlike the more staid (on the surface) Batternbergs!

The descriptions of Coney Island so evocative, that I could have been there, and the photos that the author had taken and posted on The Pigeonhole really added to this.

I must have changed my mind about the identity of the murderer at least half a dozen times , and it really did take me until the end and the big reveal to be sure!

A thoroughly enjoyable serialisation by The Pigeonhole, made even better by the authors participation.
  
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ClareR (6129 KP) rated The Vanishing Half in Books

Jul 8, 2020  
The Vanishing Half
The Vanishing Half
Brit Bennett | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry
10
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I read The Mothers, Brit Bennett’s first book, and loved it. So when this popped up on NetGalley, I knew I had to request it, and I was so pleased when I was given the opportunity to read it.

It’s a story about secrets, lies and reinvention - the sacrifices someone has to make in order to get the life they want. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

Stella and Desirée Vignes are identical twin sisters, brought up in a small southern town, where all the inhabitants are black people who could pass for white people if they wanted to (which a very dangerous thing to try and do at the time the story is set).

The twins escape together, and then Stella leaves Desirée. Stella discovers that she can pass as white, and marries a wealthy white man, who knows nothing of her origins. Desirée marries a black man who beats her, and so she escapes back to her mother with her dark skinned daughter, Jude. Jude is never accepted in Desirée’s home town of Mallard, and so she leaves to go to university as soon as she is able to.

This is where Jude’s life unwittingly intersects with that of Stella’s daughter, and secrets that have been kept for so long, are brought out into the open.

I loved everything about this book. The characters and their motivations, the storyline, the way the book was written - everything! I could see why Stella did what she did, and how she felt trapped by her choices, and it’s a great example of how prejudice and racism works in the USA - and potentially here in the UK as well.

I really do highly recommend this book. It’s such a great story that kept me engaged from start to finish. I have to admit to reading it slower to make it last longer - it’s a book that I’ll be recommending to my friends, that’s for sure!