Paradise City Island Sim - Tropical City Building
Games and Entertainment
App
Play the most popular city building simulation game series on mobile! In this new Paradise City...
Universal Harvester
Book
Life in a small town takes a dark turn when mysterious footage begins appearing on VHS cassettes at...
BookInspector (124 KP) rated The Last Act of Hattie Hoffman in Books
Sep 24, 2020
As it was already mentioned in the description, this story is told from three different perspectives: Del’s, Hattie’s English teacher and Hattie. To be honest, the most interesting parts of this book were, when Hattie and her teacher told their story, I believe Del was just an add-on, because his investigation was not the best, and the whole story was opening up very nicely without Del. I think the characters lacked charisma and personality in this book, except for Hattie; she was well rounded and interesting. I really liked Hattie as a character because of her amazing talent of acting and manipulation, she knew what people wanted, and very nicely provided it to them.
The plot of this book didn’t really impress me. I did enjoy the story and the character’s feelings, but I think it lacked some spice in it. The twists and turns were not very story changing and the whole investigation just flowed smoothly. I really liked, that author opened quite a difficult topic of teacher-student love, and why teachers fall for it. I think that aspect was interesting, and along with Hattie’s personality, these were the things which kept me going. There was not much action going on in this novel, but I did like the way author was trying to sidetrack the reader with different possible killers.
The writing style of this novel was easy to read, but the length of the chapters dragged for me. (What can I say, I love short chapters) The ending of the book explained everything really nicely and I did like the conclusion and outcome of this book. So, even though it lacks some action, I still found some parts to enjoy, and if you like small town crime investigations, give it a try, you might like it.
Running with the Werewolf (Darkaway Island #1)
Book
Welcome to Darkaway Island: A destination resort for supernaturals. Where Monsters Come to Play! ...
Paranormal Romance Rom-Com
An Angel by Her Side
Book
Katie has lived through tragedy and heartache. But with the angel Elias by her side, the best years...
Nightmare in Berlin
Hans Fallada and Allan Blunden
Book
Available for the first time in English, here is an unforgettable portrayal by a master novelist of...
Before We Were Strangers
Book
Something happened to her mother that night. Something no one wants to talk about. But she's...
Pine
Book
They are driving home from the search party when they see her. The trees are coarse and tall in the...
Literary Fiction Scotland
Zuky the BookBum (15 KP) rated Three Days and a Life in Books
Mar 15, 2018
This book is very much about neighbourly relationships. It's based in the small village of Beauval where everyone knows everyone, there are friends in the village and there are enemies. They live everyday surrounded by people who know everything about them. There are a load of books about the small-town-mentality at the moment, it's clearly a very "in" thing for authors at the moment. Some of them I like, others I find boring or distressing. This one was just perfect for me!
We begin the novel in 1999 and this is where we get most of the small-town vibes. We meet Antoine and his mother, whose only worry is to keep up with appearances. We meet the neighbours, the Desmedt's and Mouchottes. We meet the town butcher, Monsieur Kowalski. We meet the Weiser's - the mayor and his son Theo. We meet a lot of different people, but they all have a very important role to play within the story.
It's the 23rd December 1999 and little Remi Desmedt has gone missing. There are plenty of the theories as to his disappearance, but we know what's happened to him, and we know where he is. What follows is a slow paced novel about the effects of Remi's disappearance on the town and the theories and judgments each villager makes on anyone suspected of having taken the young boy.
The majority of this novel is set in the few days after Remi's disappearance in 1999. This was definitely my favourite part of the novel. It was enjoyable to follow the story through Antoine's mind-set, who is 12 at the time. But as we move through the story, we meet Antoine again in 2011 and then again in 2015, but these parts of the book aren't as enjoyable to read.
As we progress through the novel, Antoine keeps coming up against challenges he needs to overcome. Will he do the right thing, or will he do anything to keep his secrets close?
Like I said before, this novel is slow paced, but I quite like that in a books sometimes. This is advertised as a thriller but I wouldn't think of is like that, this feels more like a general fiction novel to be honest. This was also described as "suspenseful", but again, I'm going to disagree with that. See what I mean about not being able to describe my feelings on it? I'm at a loss for words on what I feel this books was like! What I can say is that I love Lemaitre's way of writing. It really sucked me into the story and for this reason, I'm definitely checking out his other stuff!
Something I also know is that I enjoyed this book, for the most part. If it hadn't been for the 2011 and 2015 chapters, and the direction they took, this could have been a 5 star read for me.
BookInspector (124 KP) rated The Scent of Rain in Books
Sep 24, 2020
The narrative in this book was constantly changing. I was glued to the book to find out, why Adan ran away from his home. The suspense was very well kept throughout the book. There is a lot of shocking and absurd events happening in this novel, so if you want to read it, be prepared. 🙂 I really liked the research the author done for this book, I don’t know how close it is to the truth, but sounded pretty much close to what I read in the newspapers. Even though I really enjoyed the plot, some of the parts were a bit too slow for me. It did have short chapters and different stories, so, it was an enjoyable read.
The writing style is pleasant and the language used is easy and understandable. The whole story is set in a small town in the US but has very picturesque scenery with mountains, and small-town lifestyle. The ending rounded up the story very nicely and I really liked it. So, to conclude, this novel has plenty of not always likable, but very absorbing characters, and a very interesting story to tell, so if you like books about small communities, with a very different way of living, give this book a go, and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.


