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Little Ray Of Sunshine (41 KP) rated A Monster Calls in Books
Jan 11, 2019 (Updated Feb 10, 2019)
Book Review | A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Blurb
An extraordinary novel of love, loss and hope. Conor has the same dream every night, ever since she started the treatments that don't quite seem to be working. But tonight is different. Tonight, when he wakes, there's a visitor at his window. It's ancient,elemental, a force of nature. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor.
It wants the truth.
Review
I read this book with my friend/sister Christine. We read a few chapters a day. But we wanted to read more as this book is beautifully written. The story is about Conor he's mother is ill with cancer and hes dad as a new family in America. I felt really sorry for him as the one person who should be there is hes dad. But it had to take care of hes mum and get is self to school. School as been tough as people make him feel invisible and 3 lads bully him and while this is happening he's mum aint going to get better and he have to live with hes Grandma who he doesn't like. All these problems make him have a dream of a Yew tree that starts to talk to him and tells him 3 tales and the Yew tree tells him when he tells him the 3 stories he need to tell him the fourth story and it will be the truth.
I feel the Yew tree is making him stronger and face what is going to eventually happen to him. I won't tell you what happens as you will need to read it for yourself.
I felt this book made me realise what every child is going through while their loved ones are going through cancer, I hope it does for you.
Patrick Ness took Siobhan Dowd idea and helped by writing and publishing this book to show what she went through. As she sadly died from breast cancer back in 2007. All the royalties from this book go to the Siobhan Down Trust www.siobhandowdtrust.com
Thanks for the read x
An extraordinary novel of love, loss and hope. Conor has the same dream every night, ever since she started the treatments that don't quite seem to be working. But tonight is different. Tonight, when he wakes, there's a visitor at his window. It's ancient,elemental, a force of nature. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor.
It wants the truth.
Review
I read this book with my friend/sister Christine. We read a few chapters a day. But we wanted to read more as this book is beautifully written. The story is about Conor he's mother is ill with cancer and hes dad as a new family in America. I felt really sorry for him as the one person who should be there is hes dad. But it had to take care of hes mum and get is self to school. School as been tough as people make him feel invisible and 3 lads bully him and while this is happening he's mum aint going to get better and he have to live with hes Grandma who he doesn't like. All these problems make him have a dream of a Yew tree that starts to talk to him and tells him 3 tales and the Yew tree tells him when he tells him the 3 stories he need to tell him the fourth story and it will be the truth.
I feel the Yew tree is making him stronger and face what is going to eventually happen to him. I won't tell you what happens as you will need to read it for yourself.
I felt this book made me realise what every child is going through while their loved ones are going through cancer, I hope it does for you.
Patrick Ness took Siobhan Dowd idea and helped by writing and publishing this book to show what she went through. As she sadly died from breast cancer back in 2007. All the royalties from this book go to the Siobhan Down Trust www.siobhandowdtrust.com
Thanks for the read x
Ross (3284 KP) rated The Paris Mysteries in Books
Dec 27, 2019
Crime fiction stripped bare - all tell
"Show, don't tell" is the mantra of many authors. It means give the reader the information so they can decipher the plot at their own pace, with various tidbits of information scattered throughout a book. It doesn't mean long rambling sections of exposition.
This phrase was clearly coined after Poe's demise, as he doesn't seem to have ever heard it.
Yes, he is undoubtedly the first and most important writer of detective/crime fiction. This by no means suggests it is any good.
The three stories are really just a setting out of a mysterious crime with some facts/suspicions, with a lengthy monologue where C August Dupin solves the mystery. That's it. No suspense. No character development. No real scene setting. Just a slightly puzzling crime followed by a smartarse giving the solution.
The main thing to take away from these three Poe stories is that the police and detectives used to be rubbish and looked for the wrong evidence, or were sidetracked by what they wanted to see. There are many crimes and stories with apparently impossible solutions which can't seem to be unravelled. This idea absolutely was the genesis of the rich and varied crime genre we have today. The idea that a strange set of circumstances can arise where an apparently normal crime can be committed but with the evidence so obscure and tangled that unravelling it would take a genius.
Sadly, Poe didn't put the story around the bare bones of these crimes. So all we have is three exam questions with a know-it-all giving the answer, with no charm, no suspense, no thrilling conclusion. One of them barely even concludes the murderer, just spends an age picking holes in the logic applied by various newspapers in trying to document the crime.
I might be interested in reading a retelling of these stories (except the one where a letter has simply gone missing and is found my looking somewhere obvious), where someone actually weaves a narrative around the bare bones.
I appreciate Poe's efforts because of what followed, but not for what they themselves are.
This phrase was clearly coined after Poe's demise, as he doesn't seem to have ever heard it.
Yes, he is undoubtedly the first and most important writer of detective/crime fiction. This by no means suggests it is any good.
The three stories are really just a setting out of a mysterious crime with some facts/suspicions, with a lengthy monologue where C August Dupin solves the mystery. That's it. No suspense. No character development. No real scene setting. Just a slightly puzzling crime followed by a smartarse giving the solution.
The main thing to take away from these three Poe stories is that the police and detectives used to be rubbish and looked for the wrong evidence, or were sidetracked by what they wanted to see. There are many crimes and stories with apparently impossible solutions which can't seem to be unravelled. This idea absolutely was the genesis of the rich and varied crime genre we have today. The idea that a strange set of circumstances can arise where an apparently normal crime can be committed but with the evidence so obscure and tangled that unravelling it would take a genius.
Sadly, Poe didn't put the story around the bare bones of these crimes. So all we have is three exam questions with a know-it-all giving the answer, with no charm, no suspense, no thrilling conclusion. One of them barely even concludes the murderer, just spends an age picking holes in the logic applied by various newspapers in trying to document the crime.
I might be interested in reading a retelling of these stories (except the one where a letter has simply gone missing and is found my looking somewhere obvious), where someone actually weaves a narrative around the bare bones.
I appreciate Poe's efforts because of what followed, but not for what they themselves are.
Minecraft: The Survivors' Book of Secrets: An Official Minecraft Book from Mojang
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Jessica - Where the Book Ends (15 KP) rated Tell Me Three Things in Books
Jan 30, 2019
I’ve been in a book slump since I read Swear on This Life by Renee Carlino back in May. I’ve read other books but none have grabbed me and made me fall in love with the characters. Every time I picked up another book I would hope and wonder if this was the book that was going to give me all the feels. Was this the book that would pull me out of my slump?
Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum was that book. I related so much with Jessie. Like Jessie I too had recently lost my mom. I too counted the days she had been gone; now I count by years. Jessie’s life has been turned upside down and she’s unable to find her way out. She’s thrust into a new environment and forced to try and make new friends. Her saving grace is Somebody Nobody and anonymous classmate that emails Jessie and says he will help her navigate her way through her new school.
Liam, Theo, and Ethan are all amazing in their own ways. Liam the rocker/jock who befriends Jessie when she least expects it. Theo her dramatic, but secretly sweet step-brother. Finally, Ethan, the brooding, book reading, batman t-shirt wearing mysterious guy that can’t seem to stay out of Jessie’s head.
All the characters when put together make up the special recipe for an amazing book. The character development is on point, the dialogue moves the story along and adds to the plot. The characters are relatable and they give you all the feels. I cried right along with Jessie as she worked through her mother’s death, and all the changes in her life. I cheered for her successes and laughed with all their jokes.
The only thing this book was missing for me was… more. More story, more feels. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to these amazing characters. I didn’t want to come back to Iowa where it’s -35 outside, I wanted to stay in sunny LA with all my new friends.
If you’re looking for a quick read that will give you the feels and leave you wanting more than I suggest you pick this book up. It’s not something you’ll regret. Give yourself a chance to fall in love with these characters.
Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum was that book. I related so much with Jessie. Like Jessie I too had recently lost my mom. I too counted the days she had been gone; now I count by years. Jessie’s life has been turned upside down and she’s unable to find her way out. She’s thrust into a new environment and forced to try and make new friends. Her saving grace is Somebody Nobody and anonymous classmate that emails Jessie and says he will help her navigate her way through her new school.
Liam, Theo, and Ethan are all amazing in their own ways. Liam the rocker/jock who befriends Jessie when she least expects it. Theo her dramatic, but secretly sweet step-brother. Finally, Ethan, the brooding, book reading, batman t-shirt wearing mysterious guy that can’t seem to stay out of Jessie’s head.
All the characters when put together make up the special recipe for an amazing book. The character development is on point, the dialogue moves the story along and adds to the plot. The characters are relatable and they give you all the feels. I cried right along with Jessie as she worked through her mother’s death, and all the changes in her life. I cheered for her successes and laughed with all their jokes.
The only thing this book was missing for me was… more. More story, more feels. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to these amazing characters. I didn’t want to come back to Iowa where it’s -35 outside, I wanted to stay in sunny LA with all my new friends.
If you’re looking for a quick read that will give you the feels and leave you wanting more than I suggest you pick this book up. It’s not something you’ll regret. Give yourself a chance to fall in love with these characters.
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Necole (36 KP) rated We Were Liars in Books
Oct 25, 2018
Every summer, the Sinclair family visits the family island to spend the months there.
Gat, Mirren, Johnny and Cady were close and loved their summers they had together. Then an accident happened when Cady was 15 on the island that left her with no memory of events. For two years she didn't hear from Gat, Mirren or Johnny nor did she go to the family island during the summer. The summer of her 17th year, she finally returned ...
How did her family react to her to her return? Did Gat, Mirren and Johnny open up their arms to her? What happened to Cady that fateful summer of the accident? Will she remember?
Not only is this a crucial part of the story, but how does greed, money, power and family all play out in this well thought out novel of mystery?
I loved the writing style and how this book was broken into 4 parts, but I won't tell you the parts names because it might give something away!!!!
A brilliantly written mystery with an intriguing plot and a twisted ending you will not foresee!!!!
A must read that will have you flying through the pages and making you ask yourself a few questions. I also loved the retelling of fairy tales that make all the sense in the world once all the pieces are put together.
Gat, Mirren, Johnny and Cady were close and loved their summers they had together. Then an accident happened when Cady was 15 on the island that left her with no memory of events. For two years she didn't hear from Gat, Mirren or Johnny nor did she go to the family island during the summer. The summer of her 17th year, she finally returned ...
How did her family react to her to her return? Did Gat, Mirren and Johnny open up their arms to her? What happened to Cady that fateful summer of the accident? Will she remember?
Not only is this a crucial part of the story, but how does greed, money, power and family all play out in this well thought out novel of mystery?
I loved the writing style and how this book was broken into 4 parts, but I won't tell you the parts names because it might give something away!!!!
A brilliantly written mystery with an intriguing plot and a twisted ending you will not foresee!!!!
A must read that will have you flying through the pages and making you ask yourself a few questions. I also loved the retelling of fairy tales that make all the sense in the world once all the pieces are put together.
Kate (493 KP) rated The Silent Patient in Books
Apr 12, 2020
Gripping read - kept me guessing
This is one of the best books I have read and I have read a lot. I was gripped from the very start and it was good going back and forward from past to present as the full story starts to come together.
I read a lot of crime books and can usually guess the perpetrator and the motive usually quite quickly but this book had me guessing. When Alicia and Theo's story merge and everything falls into place this was something I could never have guessed. It all made sense and you kind of say 'oh yeah'. When I got to this part of the book I had to finish this. I couldn't put it down all the way through. I finished it in 2 days.
I started to feel for Theo. Alicia's silence was frustrating me and I was just the reader. The things happening in his personal life were awful and I wanted to tell him what do as he was on a bad path. But it is surprising hoe your feelings for a character can change so quickly. This happened with a few characters but mainly Theo.
Anyone who reads and enjoys crime books should definitely give this book a read. It is a different type of crime book.
The book exceeded all expectations based on the blurb.
I would read other books from Alex Michaelides.
I read a lot of crime books and can usually guess the perpetrator and the motive usually quite quickly but this book had me guessing. When Alicia and Theo's story merge and everything falls into place this was something I could never have guessed. It all made sense and you kind of say 'oh yeah'. When I got to this part of the book I had to finish this. I couldn't put it down all the way through. I finished it in 2 days.
I started to feel for Theo. Alicia's silence was frustrating me and I was just the reader. The things happening in his personal life were awful and I wanted to tell him what do as he was on a bad path. But it is surprising hoe your feelings for a character can change so quickly. This happened with a few characters but mainly Theo.
Anyone who reads and enjoys crime books should definitely give this book a read. It is a different type of crime book.
The book exceeded all expectations based on the blurb.
I would read other books from Alex Michaelides.
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